Sheeraz Hasan does not speak a word of Hindi. His knowledge of Bollywood is limited to Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Hritik Roshan. Yet Hasan, 29, sees himself as the bridge between Bollywood and Hollywood. Of Pakistani origin but raised in London, Hasan was just another successful immigrant running a family owned restaurant, Tinseltown, till in 2002 he decided to move to Los Angeles.
Initially he wanted to sell milkshakes but soon realised that the US had milkshake makers by the dozen. During this time he used to flip channels, American and Indian ones.
"I saw no Jennifer Lopez or Tom Cruise on Indian channels and I wondered whether Hollywood was sending any material at all to India," he says and so found his calling. But why Bollywood? He says: "India has one of the biggest film industries in the world but it does not realise the business potential. I wanted to marry the creativity and business together."
How did he make a beachhead in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, where he had no godfather in LA and no money to live, that too after 9/11? He found a mentor in Roland Perkins, founder of Creative Arts Agency, among the biggest talent hunt agencies in the US.
Perkins gave him access to the Who's Who of Hollywood. And so Tinsel Town TV was born.
The first show was aired in June 2002. The show spoke about movie releases, stars and never aired gossip. Instead, Hasan spoke to Hollywood stars about their spiritual side and spent time educating them about India and Pakistan.
Today, the show is on air in 130 countries and seen by 500 million people. What began as a self funded venture now has a turnover of $ 15 million. He is the one point contact for all Hollywood directors when they have to cast a Bollywood actor for their films.
Recently, Hasan suggested Aishwarya Rai's name to Brett Ratner who is directing "Rush Hour 3," starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan.
According to Hasan, when Hollywood begins to cast Bollywood stars, it will be capturing a market of a billion people who will watch an English movie because it stars an Indian.
Today Hasan is considered extremely influential even among the Arab community, so much so that he managed to sell a mansion belonging to the Sultan of Brunei for $22 million on his television show.
He asks: "If I can sell a mansion, imagine what I can do with Bollywood stars?"
His future plans include launching a 24 hours a day video on demand website and a film studio. And, of course, he dreams of seeing Aishwarya Rai and Shahrukh Khan in Hollywood.
