US director makes romantic comedy on outsourcing

Ashok Easwaran

CHICAGO: Outsourcing to India, which was a major election issue in the last US presidential elections, is now the subject of a romantic comedy starring actress Ayesha Dharker.

The film, Outsourced, has won critical acclaim at film festivals. John Jeffcoat, the film's director, calls it a "comedy of cross-cultural conflict and romance".

Jeffcoat said that he had been very familiar with the vexed subject of outsourcing since several Seattle-based companies like Microsoft and Boeing had outsourced operations to India.

While in Seattle, Jeffcoat, who has spent some time in Nepal, started seeing Bollywood films. "I got a taste for Hindi films watching them in theatres in Seattle," he said.

The fact that Hindi films were three hours long and had no English subtitles did not deter him from watching them. It was not long before his two interests converged.

Outsourced is about Todd Anderson, 32, who manages a customer call centre in Seattle, until his job, along with those of the entire office, is outsourced to India. To add insult to injury, Anderson must travel to India himself to train his new replacement.

In the chaos of Mumbai, Anderson attempts to adjust to his new work environment even as he yearns for the comfort of home. Interacting with his Indian colleagues who include Asha, played by Ayesha Dharker, Anderson realises that he too has a lot to learn, not only about India and America but also about himself.

He comes to the reluctant conclusion that being outsourced may have been the best thing that ever happened to him.

Outsourced's screenplay has been written by Jeffcoat and George Wing. The film, produced by an independent production company, Shadowcatcher, was shot on locations in Mumbai and Seattle. It has been shown at the Toronto and Palm Spring festivals to praise from critics.

"Jeffcoat and Wing are careful in the film to portray Indian culture without stereotyping. As strange as Anderson finds his new surroundings upon his arrival, to the Indians he has come to live and work among, it is he who stands out as odd," said Variety magazine.

Jeffcoat said he found it interesting to make a film where the protagonist is thrust into a different culture. "The visit to India proves to be an education for the protagonist and also helps deconstruct him," he said.

The presence of Indian actress Ayesha Dharker in the film was fortuitous.

Casting director Robin Gurland was completing casting in New York when she read an article in The New York Times describing Dharker's performance in The Terrorist. "The critic praised both the film and Dharker's performance," said Gurland.

"Fortunately, I was able to track her down and I met her in London."

Jeffcoat said he was very impressed with the skills of the Indian crew.

"Their work ethic was great and they worked very fast," he said. Jeffcoat, however, hired an American cinematographer. "I wanted someone who would see India through American eyes," he said.

Outsourced does not have songs in the Bollywood sense of the term. "But it does have music. In one scene, his Indian colleagues play a song for Anderson - from the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, actually." Jeffcoat said.

Jeffcoat confesses to an acquired taste for Hindi films despite the language barrier.

"I get a sense of what is going on, although I would be hard put to understand Javed Akhtar's lyrics," he said.

He is working on a television film, Bollywood and Me, which he said, was half finished. "India has a unique cinema culture," he said, "although they may not appeal to a wider American audience. Hindi films combine so many genres. The production values are excellent. A film like Devdas has commendable production quality, achieved at one-tenth of what it would cost in Hollywood."

Does Outsourced have a moral? The answer is no. "Outsourced is neutral," Jeffcoat said. "It is not against outsourcing, nor does it advocate it."

The film does have an underlying message though. "As long as the American consumer wants goods at the cheapest price, and companies want the maximum profits, outsourcing seems inevitable," Jeffcoat said.