Once rejected by Hollywood, British director Bharat Nalluri is now creating waves in Hollywood with an Emmy nomination for his television film, Tsunami, the Aftermath, an HBO movie.

'I just cannot figure out how Hollywood works,' director Nalluri, whose first Hollywood film The Crow: Salvation was sent straight to video, had said seven years ago.

Although the film had a decent amount of buzz, its producers were clearly unhappy with the way it had shaped up, and thought that sending it to the video stores would cut their losses. Nalluri, who had been declared by the influential trade publication Variety as one of the top 10 directors to watch out for eight years ago, was nearly devastated by the Hollywood rejection. 

'But I am not going to quit making films,' he had declared then.

London-based Nalluri, 41, who was born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, is back in Hollywood with an Emmy Nomination for directing a miniseries/drama special. His film, which featured acclaimed artists Tim Roth and Toni Collette, was one of the most honoured documentaries last year. Nalluri, who went on to direct a number of television episodes after Miramax rejected The Crow for theatrical release, will have a movie in theaters early next year.

Called Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, the British comedy features Amy Adams, who received a best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for Junebug last year. The film also has Oscar winner Frances McDormand in the title role. It is about a governess in 1938 who gets a taste of glamour when she goes to work in the home of an up and coming actress. One of Pettigrew's chores is to sort out the actress's unrespectable affairs.

Nalluri, who has directed many acclaimed television films in Britain including Spooks, says he has been planning to direct a film about popular citizens' movements set in India, preferably in Andhra Pradesh.

Text: Arthur J Pais