The Other End of the Line (2008)

An employee at an Indian call-center travels to San Francisco to be with a guy she falls for over the phone.

Director:

James Dodson

Writer:

Tracey Jackson

Stars:

Jesse Metcalfe, Sara Foster, Anupam Kher

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jesse Metcalfe	...	Granger Woodruff
Austin Basis	...	Charlie Hendricks
Larry Miller	...	Kit Hawksin
Michael Chen	...	Mike
Nouva Monika Wahlgren	...	Ula (as Nauva Green)
Sara Foster	...	Emory Banks
Harry Key	...	New York Waiter
Shriya Saran	...	Priya R. Sethi
Tara Sharma	...	Zia
Sushmita Mukherjee	...	Manju R. Sethi
Jai Thade	...	Govinda R. Sethi
Kiran Juneja	...	Aunt Pimmi (as Kiran Joneja)
Suhita Thatte	...	Priya's Aunt #2
Anupam Kher	...	Rajeev Sethi
Avantika Akerkar	...	Miss Prasad

Storyline

While struggling to impress new hotelier client Kit Hawksin, Granger Woodruff of the ad agency Stimulus is told by Jennifer David of the CityOne Bank call center that his identity has been compromised and his credit card is being misused. While tracing transactions, both become friendly and agree to meet in San Francisco at the Hawksin Hotel. When she apparently does not show up, Granger befriends an Indian girl, Priya Sethi, who has flown in to attend a relative's birthday party. Granger will get a rude awakening when he finds out that Priya is actually Jennifer, additionally the fiancée of wealthy Mumbai-based Vikram Bhatia. Since Priya has traveled to America without her family's consent, Granger will also incur her family's wrath, three of whom have felt compelled to travel there to locate Priya then escort her back home to marry Vikram.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | indian | call center | birthday | hotel | 

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Taglines:

Two countries. Two cultures. One chance at love.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States]

Country:

UK USA India

Language:

English Hindi Italian

Release Date:

12 February 2009 (Singapore)

Also Known As:

Call Center - Bei Anruf Liebe

Filming Locations:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$59,078, 2 November 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$115,504, 7 December 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),Hyde Park Entertainment,Adlabs Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is the first combination between the Indian powerhouse production house, Adlabs, with their American counterpart MGM. The film was co-produced by the Indian-American producer Ashok Amritraj and Patrick Aiello.

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Goofs

Granger comes to India hunting for Priya at "CityOne Bank Headquarters." Normally all the foreign companies use third party Indian companies to house their call centers. The local people identify these companies by the name of the Indian Business entity, not the client company; hence, no Indian locals would known where the "CityOne Bank Headquarter" would be when Granger asks for directions to Priya's workplace.

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Quotes

Granger Woodruff: I kind of feel like James Bond. Only, I probably don't smell as good as he does.
Vij: I think you smell great.
Granger Woodruff: Thanks.

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Connections

References Pretty Woman (1990)

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Soundtracks

Like a River
Written by Rick Garcia and William V. Malpede
Performed The Jack Darby featuring Cj Charenjeet Virdi (as Charenjeet)
Hindi translation by Cj Charenjeet Virdi (as Charenjeet)

User Reviews

I wanted to like this movie more!

All the elements were there, but the editing was flat and scenes tended to play out way past their usefulness.

Thinking it was directed by an Eastern Indian, I excused these things to my companion as, "Well, perhaps they have a different sensibility and sense of timing in Mumbai." But then I learned it was written and directed by Americans and was doubly depressed.

...Line has a great premise and is mostly acted and directed well. Maybe I'm too used to the fast pace of a/a films and TV, but scenes trailed off with no 'button,' some of the time actors looked adrift and the Indian actors ("Jennifer's" relatives in particular) were very melodramatic and over-the-top. All IMO, of course.

All that aside, I teared up at the right moments and for the most part enjoyed the two leads. I'd recommend it, but unfortunately not whole-heartedly.