Outsourced (2006)

After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman (Hamilton) heads to India to train his replacement.

Director:

John Jeffcoat

Writers:

George Wing, John Jeffcoat

Stars:

Josh Hamilton, Ayesha Dharker, Asif Basra

5 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josh Hamilton	...	Todd Anderson
Matt Smith	...	Dave
Rudolf Rodrigues	...	Rickshaw Driver
Jai Neeraj Raj Purohit	...	Man Catching Train
Siddarth Jadhav	...	Gola Vendor (as Siddharth Jadhav)
Asif Basra	...	Purohit N. Virajnarianan
Sudha Shivpuri	...	Aunti Ji
Raghu Mama	...	Aunti Ji's Old Man
Parvati	...	Aunti Ji's Server
Sitaram D. Kadam	...	Shop Till You Drop
Feroz	...	Kid
Raja Kadale	...	Aunti Ji's Handyman #1
Harish Chandra	...	Aunti Ji's Handyman #2
Prashant Mahesh	...	Aunti Ji's Handyman #3
Ayesha Dharker	...	Asha

Storyline

When the call center he manages in Seattle is outsourced to India, Todd travels there to train his replacement. Housed in a new building that looks like an above-ground bunker, the call center is staffed by willing novices whom Todd trains to sound American. One star on the staff is Asha, who teaches Todd that he should learn about India, and proceeds to do just that.

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Plot Keywords:

train | india | call center | kitsch | outsourcing | 

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Taglines:

Call centre chaos...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hindi

Release Date:

29 November 2007 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Bye-bye, Vomvai!

Filming Locations:

India

Box Office

Gross USA:

$161,593, 13 January 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

ShadowCatcher Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min (theatrical) 98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Todd first arrives at the airport in India, and is making his way through the group holding signs looking for people, the name on one of the signs is Gwen Bialic.

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Goofs

When Todd is being driven to the train station in the rickshaw, his position and the position of his luggage keeps switching back and forth from side to side depending on the location of the camera. To move the luggage alone from side to side would have required lots of effort and there is no leg or headroom to do so.

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Quotes

Purohit N. Virajnarianan: [saying goodbye] I hope that both your legs get broken.
Todd Anderson: I'll never forget you said that.

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Crazy Credits

Extra special thanks: Shiva Lingam, Ganesh, Kali (Hindu gods)

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Connections

References Casablanca (1942)

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Soundtracks

Holi Aayi
Written by BC Smith, Cj Charenjeet Virdi (as CJ Virdi)
Performed by Cj Charenjeet Virdi (as CJ Virdi)

User Reviews

From the heart.

I had an absolute blast watching this movie today. It was funny, moving and most of all, sincere. It would have been very easy for the filmmakers to fall back into stereotypes while writing and shooting this movie, but they skillfully steered clear of any pitfalls that plague so many other movies out there, especially in this genre.

I got the chance to see this movie at a special screening at UW in Seattle today and join in a Q&A session with the writers (and director) John and George, Ayesha, who plays Asha, and a few of the producers. John, the director and co-writer, mentioned he had spent quite some time in Nepal and India during his student years. And although the story itself is a fictional one, the cultural shocks and experiences Todd goes through were largely based on John's own experiences during his time abroad. This seems to make for a very honest take on the nuances of this story. Luckily the movie not only focuses on Todd's shock of arriving in a completely new culture. The local people that Todd deals with on a daily basis also find they need to adjust to Todd's American way of running a call center. This makes for a balanced telling of a story about cultural differences and, maybe more importantly, the similarities.

It may not be a groundbreaking movie by any blockbuster standards, but the sincerity seems to be coming straight from the heart. And that's something you rarely see in movies nowadays. This movie deserves all the attention it gets. So go see it! And if you like it, tell your friends.