Hitting on the message that true love conquers all, "The Guru" mixes Bollywood and Hollywood and comes up with a romantic comedy with a twist.
Director Daisy von Scherler Mayer describes "The Guru" as "a movie about other movies. We definitely have fun with the romantic comedy genre, and the audience is in on the joke all the way through." von Scherler Mayer adds, "We hit the traditional marks, like rushing to the church to break up the wedding and all that, but we re-invent them in fresh and funny ways."
As the American love interest of Ramu (Jimi Mistry), Heather Graham portrays a romantic young woman who takes Ramu by surprise and teaches him valuable life lessons.
HEATHER GRAHAM ('Sharonna')
Were you concerned about playing another porn star?
Basically, I only want to play porn stars. I want to see if I can [go] my entire career and only play that role. It'll be fun (joking).
I read ["The Guru"] and I thought, "Oh, I love it, but I don't know if I can do it because everyone's going to ask me why did you do that?" Then I just thought, "Who cares? I think it's really good and funny, and I like my character a lot." I could relate to a lot of things with my character. I thought it was a really unique story, a story that I'd never seen before in a movie.
What did you relate to?
Well, because I was in porn movies…no (laughing). Basically, I could relate to the new age kind of healing stuff that my character talks about. I liked the idea that I had these things to say that were wise and interesting, but that actually no one would take me seriously. But, if someone else said them, then they sounded really good and everyone thought it was genius.
I liked the love story about a girl, basically a person who feels like if they really are themselves, they won't be accepted. I think a lot of people feel that way. I like that I created this whole other personality in this guy to make him like me, but then I learned that actually someone will like me even if I am myself. I just think that's a cool story.
Could you identify with your character?
To be honest, I kind of identify with all the characters in a way. I identify with Jimi [Mistry] because I wanted to be an actor. I watched movies and thought, "I want to be in movies," and wanted to be an actor. And then thinking somebody will make you happy and maybe he doesn't, and [instead] something else makes you happy.
I identify with Marisa [Tomei's] character in that sometimes I find that I want to find answers from someone. I want somebody to be like, "I know the answers and they are this." You look to someone else and you're like, "Tell me the answers." Even if they don't know anything, and in fact you know more, you just want to feel like someone knows the answers. You believe somehow they do and then you actually realize that they don't, that you're better off following your own judgment.
I guess I like my character because I feel that I have wisdom that I don't give myself credit for. I feel that, like I learned in the movie, someone can actually like me for who I am. I don't need to try so hard to be someone else.
Did you enjoy dancing in "The Guru?"
It was really fun. There are so many different kinds of ways that you're supposed to train in dance, so we just tried to pick up as much as we could.
Do you think it's still difficult to tell movies from a woman's point of view?
I guess you just feel like there's a whole story that's not being told in movies. You're only seeing the macho guy version of a story that from the woman's side, may be completely different. I just think it's funny because I've been trying to develop things. There are less opportunities for women. We were selling this idea that's a little bit "Sex and the City"-ish and they said, "Oh, you know what? 'Sex and the City' has already done this. A lot of people watch 'Sex and the City,' and it's a movie that would make over 100 million dollars basically, but 'Sex and the City' has already done it." I laughed and I was thinking, "That's not enough. Like, one show? It's not like you do 'The Terminator' and say let's not do 'XXX.'" People think, "Well, you've done one 'woman' show, it's done." But no one thinks about every single action movie that's exactly the same. I went to see some trailers and it's like, "He's a trained killer. He's a trained killer."
Are male executives more closed-minded than female executives?
I don't know. I think women can be like that, too. Basically, we have this sex comedy idea and they're like, "Well, 'The Sweetest Thing' didn't make money so female sex comedies don't make money." And I'm like, "Well, 'Bridget Jones' made money." I'm just seeing [that] it's harder for women, and any kind of minority. Have you thought of a movie that has an Indian lead? Like an Indian man lead? You can't really think of any other than maybe "Gandhi," and he's a historical figure. I just think if we have more of that, it's good for all of us. It's fun to see movies about people from different backgrounds and to appreciate people from different cultures. It'd be nice if there was less racism in the world and maybe we should all be open to different kinds of movies.
Did you visit India?
I did. I went to India as part of this magazine article and it was really fun to see Bollywood. It was really cool, but I had an experience a little bit like the movie where you think something's one thing but it's actually not. When I went, I thought, "I'm going to have this deep spiritual epiphany here and my life's going to make sense," and it didn't. I just thought, "Wow, it's really hard getting around." It's just a lot more difficult living there, for me, because I'm used to living in America. There were amazing moments, but I found myself missing all my materialistic comforts. It was amazing and the pictures look amazing.
How was your "Anger Management" experience?
It was really so fun. I loved working with Adam Sandler and it was just a really fun part. It was really like, "Get in and get out, but make the most of the moment, [during] the time you're there." And it was just fun. I played a psycho girl and [Adam Sandler] was just really charming. He's got this great group of guys around him that make you feel like you're one of the guys. They gave me a cigar and [I] went fishing, and they're the most supportive people. You'll do one line, like, "I'll see you later." They're like, "That was great!"
Does Sandler yell at you in the movie?
No. I'm way crazier than him - in the movie.
