Manish Patel is realizing some dreams.

The handsome, intelligent and friendly son of Hema and Sudhir Patel of Orangeburg is now in Hyderabad, India, where he is making his seventh movie -- his first full-length feature romantic comedy, tentatively named "On the Other Side."

"Acting was a hobby for me, but it's way more than a hobby now," he said in a recent interview, ". What I've always dreamed of becoming is a producer. I'm juggling both now, but I appreciate the opportunity."

"There are 11 of us in the United States that are hard-core South Asian actors," he said, "and we all show up at the same auditions whenever there's an Indian role."

Patel has been working as a producer for Sundanc, an independent television channel in New York, but is presently busy with the movie, which will be distributed all over India and in major cities of the United States by the end of 2006 or in early 2007.

In case you think that means he is working in a "side" market, think again.

In the June 26 issue, Time magazine reports that one of the ways the country of India is changing the world is with its film industry. "India's $1.5 billion film industry is the largest in the world, both in number of movies produced and in number of tickets sold. India makes close to 1,000 movies a year, five times Hollywood's output.

Producing takes business sense and creativity. "A movie is first just a pile of papers," he says. "The producer reads the script, then decides a budget, finds the actors, the right director for that kind of movie, the financing."

Acting has such a different pace, he said. The actors have an hour for makeup and wardrobe and then shoot steadily for 18 to 20 hours a day, and this pace continues for two weeks.

"It's really cool to be thrown in the situation with strangers 24 hours a day. You become so close and adapt to the fact that they have such different acting styles," he said. "You're focusing on portraying the writer's words adequately and being in turn with the story while at the same time you want to bring your own interpretation to it."

The script for "On the Other Side" is 130 pages long, and 14 pages were shot in New York City. Working under a "great director," Shanti Kumar, and producer Pranathi Reddy, Patel plays Jack, a quintessential American-born Indian who has lost touch with the culture of his ancestry. In working on a school project, he travels to India with Dave, a Caucasian classmate. Both fall in love, although Jack is a serious student who becomes more in touch with Indian culture, while Dave is more of a "whimsical, laid-back" character.

One of his six short films, "Time and the Hour Run," was shown at the South Asian Film Festival and then at the Indo American Chamber of Commerce Film Festival.

He has done many commercials and starred in a 30-minute show June 5 on MTV called "Breaking the Addiction," in which he played a young man whose eyes are opened up to the problems of the environment.

He also hosts segments of the South Asian Student Alliance that are shown on Indo-American Television.

"I get a percentage for the movie, but in television, the pay is substantially more because movies depend on how well the film does," he said. "I'm hoping this one will go to Sundance, Tribeca and the L.A. film festivals."

The former president of the student body at his high school alma mater, Heathwood Hall Academy in Columbia, Manish grew up in The Landing neighborhood of Orangeburg. While at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Patel shot movies, studied interntional business and worked in electronic media production. He also studied acting in New York and California.

A former student of Betty Lane Gramling of Orangeburg (see story below), Patel says that she has been his mentor and coach "the whole way through."

"When I was really young, I went to New York with her to the modeling competition and I won scholarships to study in film and television," he said. "She's been a big part of this -- what do you call it? Something cheesy -- quest. All during college I worked in New York and I shot two films there."

Now that Manish has lived in New York City and worked in television and film, he sees his home town in a different light. "I really appreciate it here more when I come here," he said. "I love that there's nothing to do. I just sti there and watch TV and chill.

"My parents have been very supportive of me and my three sisters," he said. "They always promoted the idea of looking at things out of the box, which was especially true growing up as a South Asian in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and they have allowed us the opportunities that have made all that I've done possible.

"I believe that people that take the biggest risks reap the biggest benefits, such as leaving New York City for India, and I learned that from my parents," he said.

"In acting, rejection is almost daily. I got my first role after 30 auditions. It's pretty tough. The roles for an Indian guy are limited, and when they're there, they're stereotypical, but even though I'm not enough in demand to be picky, I only want to do something that is good for the South Asian community. I hope to be a South Asian point person."

Breaking through is hard, he acknowledged with a smile. "I'm a first generation Indian American," he said, "and anyone around my age probably is too. It's so new to Hollywood that Indians are here. All of our parents are doctors and lawyers, so we're really getting our feet wet in the acting field, and molding what we mean to our country."

Nancy Wooten may be reached at nwooten@timesanddemocrat.com or by calling 803-533-5540. To discuss this and other stories online, go to www.tandd.com

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