India’s Rajat Kapoor & Mallika Sherawat Up Next on SOUNDS OF FILM

Rajat Kapoor, the “Godfather" of Indian independent film, and Bollywood legend, Mallika Sherawat, are Tom Needham’s Special Guests on THE SOUNDS OF FILM.

Director, writer and star Rajat Kapoor has created a fascinating film about the art of filmmaking in his newest, RK/RKAY.

Working in the tradition of such classic films as Being John Maklovich and Purple Rose of Cairo adding a light, markedly Indian touch, the film tells the story of a film director whose main character usurps control of the plot line, and eventually, his real life.

RK is a filmmaker (played by Rajat Kapoor), making a new movie in which he also plays the lead character of Mahboob. With a high-maintenance actress as the female lead (Mallika Sherawat), the film-within-a-film is a retro tribute to Indian cinema of the 1960s. When shooting wraps and the editing begins, RK has a sinking feeling that the film is not going to come together, that this time he has really screwed up. Sure enough, one afternoon RK gets a call from the editing room – something terrible has happened. Mahboob has "run away, out of the film" and has somehow entered the real world.

Raj Kapoor made his acting debut in the Kumar Shahani film Khayal Gatha and his full-length directorial debut with Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One. In 2001, Kapoor got his mainstream break in Dil Chahta Hai, starring Aamir Khan. He received international attention in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. Since then, he has written, directed, and appeared in many critically acclaimed films including Corporate, Bheja Fry, and as Muhammad Ali Jinnah in a UK television film The Last Days of the Raj. He wrote and directed the independent film Raghu Romeo which he financed by sending e-mail requests for money to his friends. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Kapoor then directed and starred in Mixed Doubles, a film that deals with swinging in contemporary Mumbai. In 2008 he directed a sleeper hit called Mithya, which many international critics call it one of the greatest Black Comedy of all times. He was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actor for Siddharth: The Prisoner at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. He has also starred in a Bengali movie Iti Mrinalini opposite Konkona Sen directed by acclaimed Bengali film writer Aparna Sen.

Sherawat first captivated Indian audiences in the 2003 groundbreaking film Kwahish and is one of Bollywood’s most popular actresses. She starred in the film Murder, one of India's biggest box office hits that year. She went on to star opposite Jackie Chan in the 2005 film The Myth and emerged as a breakout star at the Cannes Film Festival, with Time Magazine's Richard Corliss calling her "the next big thing." Sherawat was seen in the Indo-American film Hisss with Irrfan Khan for which she won a Kalakar Award for Best Actress. Other popular film credits include Dasavatharam, Guru and Pyaar Ke Side Effects, and Time Raiders which made 127 million dollars at the box office. As the first Bollywood actress to meet U.S President Barack Obama, Mallika’s popularity has immensely grown within the Hollywood community.

THE SOUNDS OF FILM is the nation's longest running film and music themed radio show. For the past 30 years, the program has delivered a popular mix of interviews and music to listeners all over Long Island, parts of Connecticut and streaming live worldwide on the internet. Past people interviewed for the show include Jim Breuer, Cheech & Chong, Jason Biggs, Thora Birch, Alec Baldwin, Billy Joel, William H. Macy, John Debney, Howard Shore, Kurtis Blow and Ralph Macchio.

Worldwide listeners can tune into the SOUNDS OF FILM internet livestream on Thursday at 6 pm EST at wusb.fm.