On a recent evening about 20 young women, who were passing by the newly opened India Movie Center theater complex in Sunnyvale, California, stopped on impulse to check the timings for American Desi.

They found the next show was two hours away, and didn't want to wait that long.

But just as they were leaving, Venkateswarlu Muvva (popularly known as Lu) stopped them. He had overheard some of them saying that they could wait an hour. "I can screen the film for you in less than an hour," he said.

And he did. Of course, he could do so because the multiplex has six theaters - and one of them wasn't showing any movie that evening.

"The real reason I did so was because I hate to see anyone going away unhappy from my theater," says Lu, who also owns the 300-seat Banjara restaurant nearby. IMC6 is located some 30 miles from Fremont, the home of Naz8 that shows Indian movies on most of its screens.

But Lu, who used to show films at Naz till recently, does not consider that multiplex a competition.

"Ultimately, people go to movies not just to watch what is on the screen but also have a pleasant evening," he says. "I believe we offer excellent courtesy and service."

Nationalism is involved, too.

The owner of Naz8, Shiraz Jivani, is from Pakistan. Though his theater shows films in 27 languages including Tagalog and Sinhalese, and though Jivani agrees heartily Bollywood movies are his mainstay, "But he does not want to call his cinemas an Indian movie house," says Lou. "When you come to see movies at my theater, I want you to feel proud to be an Indian."

Besides, he also caters to niche audiences. Apart from Hindi movies, he is also showing South Indian movies, particularly Telugu movies. "The Bay Area is the best market for Telugu movies in America," Lu says.

Telugu films are shown in more than 10 cities in America, mostly on weekends. But Lu shows them all along the week. The Bay Area has dozens of Telugu families, and hundreds of hi-tech Telugu speaking IT professionals.

Though a Telugu hit movie could gross about $200,000 across America (while a Hindi hit could easily make about $750,000), Lu says he is not worried about the magnitude of the business. He says enjoys showing movies from his own region in India. And he knows the audiences love to see the movies on the big screen.

Besides, South Indian movies are hardly pirated, he adds.

Distributors of South Indian movies do not face piracy problems. "We know each other in the community," Lu says. "We wish each other well. So an exhibitor or distributor trying to cheat the legitimate dealer does not arise."

Lu, 36, who has a degree in electrical engineering, came to America for graduate studies. His first foray in business was with a restaurant called Abiruchi in Beaverton, Oregon.

But when he opened Banjara four years ago, Lu also began thinking seriously about being an exhibitor. When the AMC multiplex situated in the Sunnyvale Town Center shuttered down, Lou offered to take the lease from the parent company.

"I have been doing business with them for some time," he says. "I had showed Telugu movies there. So getting the lease was not difficult."

His next venture will be making a Telugu movie. He won't divulge too many details, except to say it will be about American desis -- and have local talent. But it would surely premiere at IMC -- and the post screening dinner will feature the ginger chicken Banjara is famous for!

Design: Dominic Xavier

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