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T.E. Raja Simhan

MOVIE ON OFFSHORING

Chennai , Dec. 31

Fairfax Furniture's call centre in the US is about to come under attack. Its CEO must cut costs or lose his job. Like any other modern businessman, he sacrifices others. He declares Voxx of India their new call centre putting the jobs of Americans like Ms Carol Silvers on the block.

This is not another case of jobs moving from the US to India, but the storyline of "Offshore" a movie that deals with the effect of offshoring in the US. It examines how employees of a small American business react when their jobs are outsourced to India.

To be released soon in the US, "Offshore" is a corporate war between the Fairfax cowboys and Indians, according to the movie's Web site.

Offshore's Executive Producer and Concept Head, Mr T.S. Dayananda, told Business Line over e-mail that the movie deals with issues of a CEO in the US and a father and son company in India. It is about conflicts between employees in both countries, especially when Indian employees go to the US for training. It also deals with media's handling of offshore issues.

"In the movie we are showing what the issues are, and we are dealing with who is winning or who is losing. It a balanced movie," he said. Michigan-based Diane Cheklich makes her feature directorial debut with the movie/drama, which she co-authored with Peg Bogema and Chetana Kowshik based on a concept by producers Dayananda and Amarnath Gowda.

The cast in the movie shot in the US and Mumbai include the Bollywood actor Satish Shah, Marty Buflaini, Deb Tunis, Neil Bhoopalam, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee, Adam Schomer, Malaika Shenoy and Alison Crockett, according to the movie's Web site.

The story goes like this:

In India, Voxx does not actually exist. But the father and son team, Devendra Tiwari and his son Ajay, pick three candidates to go to the US to be turned into trainers. Nikhil, Anjali and Reva are thrilled to land the job, but when they arrive in Detroit they find they are not welcome. In fact, Carol and her furious co-workers have declared war against them. The job thieves are tormented at every turn.

In India, Voxx's call centre is cobbled together with mismatched phones, malfunctioning computers and employees straining to adjust to the night shift. Voxx now desperately needs its trainers.

But back in the US they are broken, one by one. Carol has nearly won her war against the Indians. But her CEO is determined to make good on this faltering deal. He tells Voxx they have got 24 hours to go live or they will all lose everything.

The trainers return home to utter chaos and the unbreakable belief that this ragtag start-up can accomplish their impossible mission.

Who wins? The Indians or Americans. Watch in the movie.

More Stories on : Off-shore Development | Outsourcing | Human Resources | Cinema

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