DreamWorks isn’t the only Hollywood entity foraying into India these days.
Rapper, reality TV star and outspoken medicinal marijuana advocate Snoop Dogg has a cameo in the Bollywood musical “Singh Is Kinng,” which opens in the region Aug. 7.
In crimson Punjabi shirt and a turban, Snoop performs the titular musical number alongside star Akshay Kumar in a segment that was lensed in Chicago. The Long Beach, Calif.-based rapper and the Bollywood actor apparently hit it off so well that they went on a “kingly” shopping spree for the Indian garb seen in the shoot.
It’s not the first time that Hollywood actors have appeared in Indian pics — Rex Harrison and Sylvia Miles had supporting roles in the 1978 flop “Shalimar” and Ali Larter recently starred in “Marigold” — but it is the first time that a mainstream American artist has performed on a Bollywood soundtrack.
The song’s already a hit: Soundtrack sold 5 million copies in “just about a fortnight,” according to the “Singh Is Kinng” website.
“Snoop’s presence has definitely invited mainstream media attention and a lot of American-Asian and British-Asian youth focus as well. There is no denying that his presence has spurred sales,” says Tanuj Garg, U.K. and Europe head of Studio 18, the Viacom-owned distributor of the pic.
And the Doggfather sends the love right back. “Represent that Punjabi,” he growls on the track’s intro, while later proclaiming, “What up to all my ladies hangin’ out in Mumbai.”
The rapper is also mulling the prospect of a live tour in India.
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