Best friends and college mates, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna Dasarakothapalli (DK) were not satisfied watching interesting movies in Tirupati. They would chat for long about the movie craft, wondering how a filmmaker casts a spell on the audience.

The idea of making a film together had crossed their minds often but they chose the safer path -- to join thousands of desis beckoned by America's IT revolution. But the movie passion that had grown deep into them while studying at Sri Venkateswara University never went away.

And now Nidimoru and DK have taken their dream to reality with the one-hour long movie in Hindi -- matrimonials.com -- a hilarious, but insightful look at the problems thousands of desis face in America. "In a way it is the story we are living ourselves," says Nidimoru, referring to DK and himself. They are 28. And they are single. But not for lack of trying.

"In India, you get married because of peer pressure and social norms," says Nidimoru. "But here the independent way of life gives you a chance to give the marriage process a second thought." In the movie, which was digitally shot, for less than $15,000 (with the artists and directors taking no fee), the resourceful desis resort to the Internet to find life mates. But in real life, there are many desis who are failed by the Internet connection.

"The Internet has made meeting girls (or guys) much easier," Nidimoru says. "But meeting the 'right one' remains as hard as ever. We have tried it too. And it hasn't work for us yet!" The experiences of their friends and their own sparked off the idea for their film.

"And thanks to the Internet and the digital age, we were able to handle every aspect of filmmaking -- directing, screenplay, cinematography and editing. Raj even acted in the film" says DK. "We were able to find a lot of enthusiastic local talent who volunteered to act for free. This is an independent film in the true sense."

Among the artists, there are two software professionals: Gaurang Vyas and Nidimoru. Sangeeta Shastri, who plays one of the leads, is studying for an MBA at Wayne State University, Detroit and Sabina Shah, another lead actress is a model. Most of the artists came from Detroit, where Nidimoru is based, and others from Minneapolis, DK's home till recently.

"All the lead actors in the movie are single and at most times they could relate to the characters they were playing, which helped a lot in making the movie more authentic" adds Nidimoru.

How did they prepare for the movie?

"Our main source of information are Bollywood and Hollywood movies," Nidimoru says. "But to strengthen our insights into film-making, we took classes in film-editing and lighting."

As for the writing part, the two collaborators had no problem at all in finding lively anecdotes in real life. "In a materialistic American society," Nidimoru continues, "when you seemingly have everything, the fact of the matter remains (that there is a lot of monotony)" Given the humdrum nature of their lives (long hours at work and anxieties of job situations), not getting to marry fast enough doesn't help the situation much.

"To many, marrying at the right time is seemingly a higher priority than the marriage taking place for the right reasons," DK observes.

"You come here for study, you interact with a wide world of people and your outlook broadens," Nidimoru says. But when it comes to choosing a partner, it is not always easy to find someone who is open-minded, he notes.

"Although we can relate to American women socially, when it comes down to tying the knot, we face many dilemmas. One of them being -- What Will My Parents Think?" He points out that although his sister has married an American, she is in a loving and committed relationship while some of the arranged marriages he has seen have ended badly within the first few months of the marriage.

Finding the right person is a problem not only for guys but also for desi girls. But as women, things are a little bit easier for them, he feels. "Women are very forgiving," he says. "They compromise more easily and settle for a less perfect human being."

Now that Nidimoru and DK have completed their first film, they are wrestling with several themes for their next project. "The immigrant community in America is a source for many films," says DK. "There are many subjects that interests us, like lives of women who follow their husbands but cannot work due to visa restrictions."

They however do not want to limit their movies to NRI themes but to explore universal themes that are relatively new to Indian audience. They bank on the fact that their stories and their storytelling techniques will be different from the conventional films to help them succeed.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers are planning to exploit their first movie. They are looking at the possibility of blowing it to 35 mm and showing it in movie houses. They have also plans for marketing it to cable, submitting it to film festivals and for CD and video versions.

The 35 mm version will have add about 10 to 15 minutes to the film explains Nidimoru. Currently the movie is about an hour long."We want to give the last minutes a documentary kind of touch," he says. "We want people to share their thoughts and experiences."

"Our story has wide appeal not only for desis in America," says DK, "but also for Indians everywhere."

Design: Dominic Xavier

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