Beyond Borders: Filmmaker Gopal Bala Explores South Asian Identity in Films

Filmmaker Gopal Bala dives into his filmmaking journey sparked by South Asian cinema and iMovie, which led to award-winning projects like “Bangin’ Basmati Butter Chicken” and “Sylvester,” showcasing his dedication to diversity. His goals include impactful storytelling and supporting fellow creatives, reflecting his commitment to cinema collaboration.

Off Record Blog (ORB): I wanted to talk about your journey into filmmaking, what sparked your interest in it? How did you get into it and who inspired you to start filmmaking?

Gopal Bala (GB): When I was very young, I was mostly exposed to South Asian cinema. I have a Tamil father and a Telugu mother so I am fully immersed into Kollywood and Tollywood movies and by proxy Bollywood movies. I was obsessed – it was the bubble I was living in for many, many years. Growing up, I didn’t watch many Hollywood movies. I only started listening to American music and [watching] Hollywood movies when I was in fifth or sixth grade.  I think the main thing that really got me [into filmmaking] was I had this iPad in fourth grade. I really, really begged my dad for this iPad, and I didn’t know what it could do. I realized there’s this thing called iMovie on it. And, I went to go see my cousin one day and we started making those really bad trailers [with] the iMovie templates. I would just, you know, create fake movie trailers with my cousin. I was like, “Yo, I like the way my family is reacting. What if I kept doing this?” I would borrow my friend’s camera to shoot YouTube videos for short films. And, you know, one thing led to another. And those [one of those] short films, I edited, directed and wrote a film that premiered in New York in 10th grade. Ultimately, in senior year, we made two films, and both of them got into South by Southwest and I won a South by Southwest award that year. That was really cool. 

ORB: Can you talk a little bit about some of your previous projects?

GB: So a buddy of mine called Jackson Coates, he wrote a film for my friend Manasi Ughadmathe to get him out there to direct. So, she directed it, Jackson wrote it and I produced, shot it and edited it with my other friend. That one was a really dark comedy and we won South by Southwest 2021, I believe. And then there’s another film that I acted in called Holographic Dreams. That was a social experiment, talking about the meaning of film and what the true meaning is behind the film. Shout out to Manasi and Jackson, both of them are amazing. But, the Bangin’ Basmati Butter Chicken is the short film that I made in the freshman year of college. I wanted to make something because I was getting editing jobs for movies. So I was like, “Okay, let me direct something.” It was called Bangin’ Basmati Butter Chicken based on some of my actor friends’ experiences in Hollywood. It basically talks about how certain casting directors made you speak with an Indian accent and how there’s humor in that situation. Bangin’ Basmati Butter Chicken is basically about the South Asian diaspora and how we deal with auditions. There was a comedy, like a full on comedy about that, that I created. It premiered at the Urban World Film Festival. I went to work on a Telugu film called The American Dream, which is on Aha. I worked under Allu Aravind, who is Allu Arjun’s father and I served as an associate editor for that film. I also [assistant directed] that film alongside our other talented [assistant directors]. I also did the [digital imaging technician] so I was doing like three hats at once. It was fun, it was my first feature. 

ORB: Can you talk a little bit about your newest project which premiered in New York recently?

GB: Right after [the Urban World Festival], I made Sylvester. I made that as a film because I hadn’t done anything in a while. I just recently came off a feature so I wanted to do something creative. Jackson wrote a script that he never got to direct and he really didn’t want to direct it. So I was like, “Hey, Jackson, do you have any scripts that you can send me?” This happened to be with an Apple mentorship program for directors that I really want to submit to and it says I need two pieces of work I’m proud of. I only had one piece of my work that I was certainly proud of. So, Jackson was like, “Hey, here’s a script for Sylvester” and he pitched it to me. It was like a regular comedy but I took it in a really weird, different way than what Jackson really wanted.  I went ahead and directed a dark comedy, thriller, horror sort of genre – like a Beau is Afraid sort of vibe.  We had a private screening here in Dallas and won the audience choice at Texas Theater. Then, I submitted to the Rickshaw Foundation and Bungalow Collective which we had a screening in New York recently that I just came back from, that was great. I searched out to make a film that happened to have South Asians just for the sake of hiring South Asians. This is not like, you know, for any piece of media. You see certain ethnicities playing certain characters. That’s all it should be about. I love cultural films, I love identity films, but this just wasn’t that.

ORB: You talked about your experience with South by South West, and all these amazing film festivals. How does it feel to see your work being recognized by these big festivals and how does it feel to see all that success in your films?

GB: It’s a great feeling. There’s a lot of times where I doubt my work and creativity. I feel like as artists, we’re very critical of our own art. I feel like the festival circuit – you can never expect anything out of it because every year is different. Every programming is different. Whether or not judges like your film is really up to them, and you can’t do anything about it. When [judges] recognize my work, I feel incredibly proud to be representative. I feel incredibly proud of my parents. I feel like this entire career of mine, it’s not really a stable one. Doing these kinds of things like seeing my parents be extremely proud of me, it means the world [and] makes me happy. Of course, it’s always a blessing for festivals to really take in and really accept ourselves. But, the work is not over yet. Of course, there’s still a lot to be done. Just because a certain festival happened doesn’t mean that we’re not still workshopping, still working on the next project and doing bigger, better things.

ORB: How do you want to portray your culture as a South Asian filmmaker in your work?

GB:  I want to be able to tell stories from our culture, tell stories in a way that is accessible for everyone. Not necessarily just for one one culture or race. I want a universal story that’s rich in culture, preserved and marinated in our language and heritage and everything that we stand for. I want to be able to provide representation for South Asians, without needing to talk about culture without needing to talk about all that it’s just straight up about the story. [Desi films] really inspire my work today. I like to make a blend of what I’ve watched when I was growing up to Hollywood movies, and I want to bring that here. I’d love to bring that to the screen. I think being able to represent that one day on the big screen would be such a dream. 

ORB: Reflecting on your whole career, what is something that makes you think “wow, I can’t believe I got to do that”?

GB: Yeah, there’s been a couple of those. Being able to work with a big crew and that every role is filled like a script supervisor getting a grip on a director photographing everybody on their own  roles, and you know, being able to step on set and only worry about directing is what made it for me every single time I step onto a project. It’s unreal to be in [this] position and I feel extremely humbled and grateful to be in a position where I walk on the set. Everybody is so eager and excited to work on something that I believe in as much as they do. All of them are so much more talented than me and being able to surround myself with people like that is just fantastic. I say that’s the sort of thing that makes it for me just being able to step on set and just looking around at the people around being grateful and thankful for everyone for being there and supporting me. That’s what makes it for me every single time.

ORB: Are there any future projects that you’re looking forward to?

GB: [I’m working on] a psychological thriller that I am currently developing for a feature. It’s a dark comedy as well, which is the biggest project I’ve ever done today. I’m currently looking for investors. So, if you know anyone that would be, that’d be great! Hopefully, we get to film that this year. I have my upcoming music video project Living Proof coming out soon. I’m also producing a feature film in Dallas, Texas, for Gray Deuber, who’s my dear friend. He’s a director friend who wrote a phenomenal script called Marrow. We got our initial seed funding for $80,000 on GoFundMe, so I’m producing that for him. That’s gonna be fantastic. I think we’re gonna be shooting that next year.

ORB:  As a closing question, what’s your ultimate goal with filmmaking? What do you really want to do with it?

GB:  I want to be in a position where I can be on set no matter what. Doesn’t matter if I’m directing, writing, whatever it is. Obviously, my dream positions are directing, writing and producing. That’s what I want to do. I’m not directing what I want to produce. If I’m not producing I want to direct. I want to be able to help people around me, my community, my family, my friends, my people, people who are just interested, driven and passionate about what they really want to tell. I want to be able to help them make that produce that and, and hopefully they do the same for me.