By Emb Hahmi
Asian World interviewed one of the stars of what will be a super hit Disney film Million Dollar Arm Madhur Mittal. On his new film based on a real life story of two young underprivileged Indian man entering into the American baseball life out of the blue.
Madhur said he was really happy to have been selected for this role, and spent many hours studying the role and even spent three weeks training to be a baseball player, training to throw a ball like a professional.
How did you progress from the role you are most famous for in Slum Dog millionaire to this one both are the same but different at the same time?
I was very passionate about both roles. This character is so white there is no grey line in him, he is so humble and so hardworking and rooted to his culture and he is always home sick, so I never had a chance to play a character like this before so I was very excited. Apart from Salim and my new role Rinku descending from poverty stricken areas of India I don’t think the roles are similar or that I have been tight casted.
The two country film stars Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Madhur Mittal (Slumdog Millionaire)and Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi) the film is based on real events, and tells the story of a down-on-his-luck sports agent JB Bernstein (Hamm), who stumbles upon an intriguing idea when flicking TV channels between an Indian cricket match and Susan Boyle’s unforgettable audition on Britain’s Got Talent.
The film follows Bernstein as he flies to India in search of the next big major league baseball star. After an intense shortlisting trials around Indian, he finally brings the competition’s winner and runner-up – two 18 year-olds – Rinku Singh (Sharma) and Dinesh Patel (Mittal) who have never picked up a baseball in their lives – to Los Angeles and sets about to teach them how to play the American game.
The film tracks the physical and emotional journey of the two young men as they set off on their adventure of a lifetime to a foreign land, and leads to life changing consequences, not just for them but surprisingly JB Bernstein – who also goes on his own personal journey of self-discovery.
