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I was hired as the lead actor to star in Kaadal Oor Aalayam (Temple of Love) to be shot in exotic locales in south India and the Seychelles islands. It was a Tamil language romantic adventure. Production offices were in Chennai, India. The producer was an Indian attorney. I had been following Indian cinema and thought this picture could be a career-changer. No American had starred in an Indian-produced film at that time. I was up for a challenge.  

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The hooks that hired me: The producer said he was negotiating to get India's hottest actress as my costar: Aishwarya Rai. Miss Universe. Big bank! I was to play an American photographer covering events leading up to an arranged marriage, a common occurrence in India. The storyline was loosely based on the film Titanic. Bride-to-be meets underdog foreigner. We fall in love. Groom and his men chase us around the island... The Titanic is replaced by a smoldering volcano which erupts. I perish saving her life...

 

The producers dyed my hair blue/black and asked me to grow a mustache. I argued that the character would be better played as the sandy-haired foreigner. But they insisted. After a few months and no script, I realized the picture was in trouble. My character went from a foreigner to a local ad agency photographer. Two of my Indian co-stars were at the top of the list in Tamil language films. Manorama as my sensible and serious mother and Senthil as a comic coworker. We also had a midget named Goliath in the story. It was never explained to me what character he was to portray. My co-star went from Miss Universe to an unknown actress who had done small roles on Indian Soap Operas. Of course, I lived at an orphanage with my brave widowed mother...

The picture was never finished...