1st O.C. Outlet for Films From India Opens

Until last week, Hussein Radhanpuri had never seen a movie from his native India shown on a big screen in the United States.

Short of driving 30 miles up the freeway from his Anaheim residence, Radhanpuri discovered that video shops specializing in Indian films provided his only way of keeping abreast of contemporary releases from his homeland. But in the past 10 days, Radhanpuri has seen two new movies from India at a theater just across town from his home.

That theater, part of the Brookhurst 6 multiplex, began showing new films from India in November, making it Orange County’s first outlet for releases from the world’s most prolific movie-making country.

“I think we need a theater in Anaheim,” said Radhanpuri, having just bought a ticket for Tuesday’s opening-night screening of “Pyar Ka Saya.”

“There is a big (Indian-American) community around here, and you get tired of watching videos. It’s not the same. It’s much more fun in a theater,” he said.

He wasn’t alone. Patrons had come from Cerritos, Diamond Bar and Riverside to catch the opening-night showing.

“In the last seven years, I never went to the movie theater” to see Indian films, said Nayna Shah of Diamond Bar, who had taken her young daughter, Yagi, to see her first Hindi-language movie in a theater. “It’s only 20 minutes away for us, it’s cheap and it’s a nice location. You don’t have to worry about vandalism or anything.”

The Brookhurst 6, which otherwise shows second-run American movies, is recently refurbished and charges only $3 admission for most screenings.

It also is located in the heart of the largest Indian-American community in California, said Pankaj Shah, who books Indian films at the theater with assistance from his brother, Jay. More than 50,000 Indian-Americans live in and around a region that includes northwestern Orange County and parts of Diamond Bar, Cerritos, Artesia and South Gate, Shah said.

Only two other theaters in Southern California--the Grande Hilton in Los Angeles and the Rani Theater in North Hollywood--regularly screen new releases from India, which produces more than 1,000 films each year. In addition, about 50 video shops in the area stock Indian films.

The Brookhurst 6 theater, Shah said, is the only venue in the United States that shows Indian movies seven nights a week.

“People are really happy to have this theater in Anaheim, so they have time to go to watch a movie in a theater,” Shah said. “People are tired of watching Indian movies on (video).”

Along with bringing entertainment to his community, Shah said he hopes the theater will become a social hub for Indian-Americans.

“The movie theater is a very important social gathering place for the Indian community,” he said. “We’re all looking for these kinds of things, so we can get to know other people and have some fun together.”

Shah rents the theater from Brookhurst 6 on a week-to-week basis, but said he hopes to make it a permanent venue for Indian films. Initially, he is concentrating on showing big commercial-release movies, featuring top-name filmmakers, movie stars and musicians from India. He said he hopes to schedule some art films eventually, if finances allow.

The movies Shah has been booking to date typically focus on romance and family issues and feature popular music scores, he said. In light of India’s recent political turmoil and violence during recent years, political themes also have begun seeping into a genre that traditionally has been entertainment-oriented, he said.

The films often mimic the style--and even the story lines--of popular Hollywood movies, Shah said. For example, “Pyar Ka Saya,” which roughly translated means “Shadow of Love,” is virtually an Indian adaptation of last year’s American blockbuster “Ghost,” he said.

“I like Hollywood movies best, like lots of Indian people,” Shah said.

Because only major Indian films designed for international release are available with English subtitles, audiences at the Brookhurst screenings are almost exclusively Indian, said Shah, who obtains the films through a New York distributor. He said he expects also to attract local residents from Middle Eastern countries, where Indian films traditionally are widely shown.

Shah, 32, moved from Bombay six years ago with his brother, Jay, to join their sister, who had established a successful Indian clothing store in Artesia. Having graduated from an Indian art school, he said he has long dreamed of getting into show business.

Two months ago, when his uncle, Babu Patel, stopped showing Indian films at the Four Star Theater on Wilshire Boulevard, Shah decided to open a venue closer to home.

Shah’s family has a long history steeped in the film industry, he said. In addition to Patel, another uncle, Ratilal Shah, is a well-known Indian movie producer whose film career dates back five decades, Jay Shah said. “Because of him, we were inspired to do it here,” he said.

The Shah brothers are spreading the word about their new movie venue to local Indian-Americans through Indian newspapers, radio and TV stations, and by word of mouth. Attendance on Tuesday was rather light but is typical for a midweek crowd, Pankaj Shah said. On Friday nights and weekends, audiences have approached the theater’s capacity of 235, he said.

During their first three weeks, the Shahs are still working to cover their expenses but said they are optimistic that interest will grow steadily as word circulates through the Indian-American community.

Doug Endicott, booking agent for the Brookhurst 6, said he cannot now afford to help the brothers financially.

“Most people won’t take a chance on this sort of thing,” he said. “But if three or four months down the road I saw that I could share in the expense, maybe we could work something out.”

For their part, the Shahs said they hope to turn a livable profit but that they are most interested in the role the theater will play in the social life of Indian-Americans.

“That’s the way business should be,” Jay Shah said. “You make money, and you help people, too.”