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By JENNIFER HOPFINGER

Acclaimed Indian director Vidhu Vinod Chopra is reportedly splitting his time between Los Angeles and Mumbai as he begins work on his next project, Broken Horses, an English-language film—his first—about two brothers embroiled in the drug trade on the U.S.-Mexico border. Chopra has said there’s nothing Indian about the movie and he will cast Western actors in it. The film is being shot in New Mexico and New York and is expected to release later this year.

Chopra’s most recent production, 3 Idiots, a coming-of-age comedy starring Aamir Khan that released last December, is the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time, collecting more than $80 million worldwide, including a decent take from the U.S. market—$6.5 million—also a box-office record.

Chopra, 53, said he learned English as a teenager by watching Hollywood films. Shortly after leaving film school, he made a short documentary, An Encounter with Faces, about impoverished children in India, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1979. He made his first feature film in 1981, Sazaye Maut, a crime thriller. His most lauded films include 1942: A Love Story (1993), Mission Kashmir (2000), and Munna Bhai MBBS (2003).

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February 22, 2010