A cross-cultural love story in Hong Kong: the first bilingual movie made in Cantonese and Hindi

Directed by Sri Kishore, My Indian Boyfriend is a love story between a young Indian man and a young woman from Hong Kong, facing at first some misunderstanding and misconception before seeing their love win. The romance alternates two languages, seven songs and dances to create a symmetry between the two cultures. Entirely shot in Hong Kong, the film is the first bilingual movie to be made in Cantonese and Hindi.

Former electrical engineer in India, Sri Kishore decided to quit his job to pursue his passion for cinema. Originally from Hyderabad, a hub for filmmaking in Telugu language (nicknamed Tollywood!), this carrier move was almost natural. In 2008, he accepted a job offer in Hong Kong to teach Bollywood dance, and to also benefit from Hong Kong’s technical expertise in movies. He simultaneously work as an assistant movie editor in the Telugu film industry and made three successful movies in India, commuting between Hyderabad and Hong Kong until 2012 when he met the woman who will become his wife.

Thanks to his students in Hong Kong, all very curious about India customs, he decided to write and direct a movie about Indian culture and also to reflect on his personal journey as an Indian man married to a Hong Kong woman. Without going into politics nor underlining the treatment of minorities in Hong Kong, his aim was more to pay a tribute to both Indian and Chinese cultures, which, according to him, have more similarities than differences: both cultures are family-oriented, proud of their heritage, and show a significant respect for the elders. Using the Bollywood movie codes allowed him to add lightness and humor to family discordances, by showcasing excessive villains and machinations and, of course, characters suddenly breaking into random song and dance.

“My Indian Boyfriend” with actors Shirley Chan and Karan Cholia

The two main characters are played by actress Shirley Chan and Karan Cholia, Indian born in Hong Kong and speaking fluent Cantonese. The film follows the love story between Krishna (Karan Cholia), kind of bad boy, and his new neighbour Jasmine (Shirley Chan). Jasmine is already engaged to wealthy and racist Richard (Justin Cheung) to help with her mother’s financial issues (Lenna Yeung). And Krishna’s father (Q Bobo) would prefer his son to focus on having a job.

Initially the movie was supposed to be shot in both Hong Kong and India but Covid-19 pandemic had other plans. Without changing the script, Kishore had to adapt the scenes based on the locations and finally the film was entirely shot in Hong Kong. Causeway Bay, Chai Wan, Central, Mong Kok, Stanley, The Peak: Kishore wanted to highlight the diversity and beauty of Hong Kong to the Indian audience. A memorable scene of the movie was a dream-come-true experience for Kishore: shooting a song and dance at the Causeway Bay junction, one of the most crowded places of the city.

Kishore said that shooting during Covid was a “lifetime experience”. “We didn’t reduce the film crew but we properly followed social distance rules and shot the whole movie for thirty days in Hong Kong”.
You can imagine how challenging it must have been to film dances in the middle of Central or Causeway Bay with fifty dancers and forty crew members while respecting the social distancing rules. And the professionalism, enthusiasm and motivation it has required from the cast and the crew to shoot in thirty days, without knowing the outcome because of Covid.

“My Indian Boyfriend” Bollywood dance

Like the pandemic had created challenges but didn’t get in the way of the shooting, the diversity of the crew and sometimes language barriers didn’t impact the movie neither. The camera crew came from India before the borders were shut and they spent two weeks in quarantine, while the light and audio team was from Hong Kong.
Sri Kishore explained: “The Hongkongese crew was speaking Cantonese and the Indian crew Hindi and Telugu. So it was a total of three languages on location!” Despite the first days where communication could be a bit difficult, “it went smooth with the crew and everyone became friends”, said Kishore. They enjoyed sharing “Chinese and Indian food in the streets, dancing in between shots”. A true bond and “joie de vivre”! As a reflection of the story itself.

In addition to Hong Kong, the film is meant to be released also in India and has been dubbed in several Indian languages such as Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. It will also be released in Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore in the original Cantonese-Hindi version. Thus, it will reach a wide audience, like any feel-good love story but with Indian and Chinese flavours on top.

My Indian Boyfriend by Sri Kishore has been released on 27 May 2021. You can watch the trailer here.

Find screenings schedule and tickets booking here and follow their Facebook page to get a sneak peek behind the scenes.