Sri Rao

Sri Rao is a writer, director, and producer based in New York City. He stands uniquely positioned at the intersection of Hollywood & Bollywood as one of the few Americans to have worked in the mainstream Indian film industry. Sri wrote the film "Baar Baar Dekho," featuring the record-breaking hit song, "Kala Chashma" (with nearly 500 million views on YouTube). Previously, Sri produced the films "New York" and "Badmaash Company" for India's leading movie studio, Yash Raj Films. Sri is an established television screenwriter, having created and sold close to a dozen pilots to networks including ABC, NBC, Fox, The CW, Bravo, BBC America, and Nickelodeon. His projects, spanning both drama and comedy, often tell stories of the Indian-American experience. Credits include: "Red White & Bollywood" for ABC (with Priyanka Chopra), "Courtesan" for Universal (with director Shekhar Kapur), "S.O.B." for ABC (with Kelly Ripa), "Bollywood Spy" for the CW (with Ryan Seacrest), "I Am Not Myself These Days" for Bravo (with Darren Star), "Alpha/Omega" for BBC America, among others. In Sri's book, "Bollywood Kitchen" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017), he introduces readers to the most iconic, contemporary Bollywood musicals and pairs a menu of home-cooked recipes with each movie. It's a fun and unique way to entertain which combines two of Sri's passions - food and films. Sri is developing "Bollywood Kitchen" into an original immersive musical, commissioned by acclaimed Broadway theater company Ars Nova ("Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812"). Born and raised in Pennsylvania to parents who immigrated from India, Sri has spent his life bridging cultures. He is passionate about using his unique point-of-view as a cultural ambassador to help people translate ancient traditions to fit their modern lifestyle. He has spoken at the Obama White House as a thought leader on Indian-American culture. Sri is an honors graduate of The Wharton School. His work has been profiled in the New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and TV Guide, while he has appeared nationally on Dish Network, SiriusXM, and PBS. He is represented by CAA.