BOMBAY CALLING

Kas Lalani's flight touches down in Bombay. His cell phone is ringing off the hook. The CEO of a small British outsourcing firm, he is working hard to cash in on the global gold rush of telemarketing jobs from the West. Bombay provides him with access to well-educated, English-speaking youths eager to get ahead and willing to sacrifice almost anything to do it.

India is changing. This new generation of call-centre employees works late into the night and perfects English and American accents to sell to clients half a world away. For their efforts, they are paid more money than their parents ever dreamed of earning. And they spend it, frequenting a new brand of all-night discos that cater to their unusual office hours. They are negotiating uncharted territory, living an altogether unfamiliar life. Bombay Calling is a snapshot of their world in transition.

Sweetlana, or Sweetie, as she is known, is attractive, vibrant and smart. At 21, she has abandoned village life for the city and the call centre and a chance get ahead.

Charles is charming and confident. He shares an apartment with his mother. For inspiration at work, he gazes at a picture of the Virgin Mary on the wall of his cubicle.

Wendy has quit her engineering studies and moved to the city for a job at the centre. She has fallen in love with another employee. She is Hindu; he is Sikh.

Sam, the manager, oversees them all. He knows all the tricks of the trade, including how to identify the accent of a Texan from that of a New Yorker. Determined to succeed, he missed his own wedding anniversary to be at the centre driving sales.

And finally there's Alex, the young American entrepreneur who manages Lalani's operations in India. For him, Bombay is alive with opportunity. He has no plans to go home.

Fast-paced, gritty and fun, Bombay Calling is a compelling insider's look at youth culture in India, and a growing number of young people who choose to follow the American dream…Indian style.

Written and directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal and produced by Adam Symansky of the National Film Board (NFB), Bombay Calling was recently awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was part of the official selection at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. It also won the NFB Colin Low Award for Innovation in Canadian Film at this year's DOXA Festival in Vancouver.