8th February 2004

GREEN CARD FEVER - an English film written and directed by Bala Rajasekharuni is slated for a nationwide release in India on the 20th of February, 2004. GREEN CARD FEVER, with its ensemble cast of international actors, had a successful run in the USA, CANADA, and UK before the currently scheduled India release.

Two film aspirants Bala Rajasekharuni and Vikram Dasu, originally from Hyderabad, make their debut in the film Green Card Fever. Bala Rajasekharuni provides the Story, Screenplay and Direction. Vikram Dasu plays the lead role in this Indo-American feature.

Though bit by the movie bug years ago, Bala and Vikram caught the 'Green Card Fever' only recently! The duo, who grew up watching Indian films and aspired to be part of the mainstream Indian cinema, ironically realized their silver screen aspirations far away from home in Hollywood. Bala and Vikram visited India to share their 'Green Card Fever' experience with the media and the audiences.

FACT SHEET

TITLE: Green Card Fever (English, 100 minutes)
COMPANY: Net Effect Media, USA
RELEASE: 20th February, 2004 (India)

STORY, SCREENPLAY, DIRECTION: Bala Rajasekharuni
Bala Rajasekharuni hails from Andhra Pradesh. He completed his Masters Degree in Directing from The University Of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Upon his graduation, Bala worked as an Associate Director for Nagesh Kukunoor. After his brief association with Kukunoor, Bala moved on to craft the Story and Screenplay for GREEN CARD FEVER, and launched himself as a director with it.

Bala - who resides in Los Angeles, 20 minutes away from the world-renowned Universal Studios - is on the way to realizing his dream of making it in Hollywood. Currently he is working on another Indo-American film to be shot half in the US and half in India. Bala is also collaborating with an American team of writers for a mainstream Hollywood film.

LEAD ACTOR: Vikram Dasu
Vikram Dasu plays the protagonist 'Murali' in Green Card Fever. Vikram, with an acting career that spans 20 years, has a Masters degree in Performing Arts at the Central University of Hyderabad. After his stage debut as a child actor in Hyderabad, he went on to play various lead roles on stage and television. The mid-90s television industry boom in Andhra Pradesh saw Vikram diversifying into television production and direction. Apart from performing lead roles in television/video films and hosting TV shows, he also produced and directed television series and documentaries. His accomplishments include 'Chatimpu' - a video film (in which he played the lead role) shown at the Mumbai International film festival (1994) - and 'Velugubata; - a documentary he directed that was screened at the South Asian film festival in Wisconsin, Madison.

Green Card Fever marks Vikram's debut on the silver screen. Vikram was also seen recently playing a cameo in Shivaram Apte's 'Premaya Namaha'.

LEAD ACTRESS: Purva Bedi
Purva Bedi is a trained actress in Royal College of London. She runs her own theater company in the USA performing Asian plays in English. Purva Bedi starred in American Desi, and Wings Of Hope recently.

CAST:
GREEN CARD FEVER has an ensemble cast of all ethnicities present in the USA Apart from Vikram and Purva, DEEP KATDARE (American Desi, Bombay Dreams), KAIZAD KOTWAL (Traffic), ROBERT LIN (Kundun), and SUBASH KUNDAMAL (ALIAS, JAG) share the screen with a multiethnic cast of Indian, Chinese, and Argentinean origins.

CREW:
PRODUCER: Vijay Vaidyanathan
CAMERA: Scott Spears
EDITING: Robert Komatsu
MUSIC: Pete Sears
SONGS: Al Stuart

About Green Card Fever:

WRITER/DIRECTOR'S NOTE:
When we talk about Indians in the US, the only thing that invariably comes to our minds is the success and prosperity our Indian immigrants enjoy in white collared professions like software engineering, medical sciences of business.

During my seven year stay in the US, I happened to visit the cities of New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver etc. In those cities, I noticed so many Indians working in odd jobs in restaurants, motels, gas stations etc. I instantly took interest in their lives and started conversations with them. Most of them were illegal immigrants on their path to realize the elusive dream of getting a 'Green Card.' During extensive discussions and interviews, those illegal immigrants have opened my eyes to the darker, nastier side of the so called 'Land Of Dreams'.' I did an extensive research for six months on the underworld of Immigration in the US. I visited Immigration Detention Centers (Prisons) and met numerous detainees from various countries. I sat through many Immigration court bearings, and visited a facts I have learnt during my research. I though every aspirant immigrant from the third world country must know these facts and be watchful of the traps on the streets of the US. I was compelled to tell so many untold stories that strikingly contrast with the success stories of white collared Indian professionals in the US.

I wrote the story with a clear purpose of exposing the dangerous trap-doors that are concealed underneath the misleadingly glorious façade that the USA projects to the entire world.

Apart from dealing with the corrupt immigration system in the US, Green Card Fever also exposes the racial biases that are prevalent in the US, and the identity issues that haunt the first and second generation immigrants. Green Card Fever also questions the meaning of truth and honesty. I believe cinema has a tremendous potential to give a clear strong message to the masses. As a filmmaker, I strive to avail this advantage as much as possible. If you ask me to pick my choice between technical values or the message in a film - my highest priority is the message. I'm happy to say that the audience worldwide recognized this in Green Card Fever.

-BALA RAJASEKHARUNI

GREEN CARD FEVER in Film Festivals:-

Green Card Fever had successful full-house screenings at the following festivals.

• REEL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, TORONTO, CANADA
• RIVERSIDE FILM FESTIVAL, LOS ANGELES, USA.
• INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, MUMBAI.
• PRAVASI BHARATHI DIWAS, NEW DELHI
  

HONORS FOR GREEN CARD FEVER:
POLITICAL FILM SOCIETY, a prestigious International Film Society based in Los Angeles, USA has nominated Green Card Fever as an EXPOSE film for the year 2003, recognizing the strong and socially relevant message it conveys to the immigrant community in the USA.