For Winston Chao, the prospect of starring in an Indian film had never occurred until he was approached for Kabali. Yes, the actor whose body of work in Chinese and Taiwanese films is noteworthy was taken by surprise when he was offered the film.
Speaking to a leading English daily, he said, “I was excited and curious because I’ve never been to India and India means something very exotic to me. But I’m not totally ignorant about India either. I’ve seen movies about India and the major religion in China is Buddhism, and Lord Buddha was from India.”
He added that he didn’t know about the existence of a film industry in the south though. “People outside India only know Bollywood. But after I came here, I realised it’s not like that. I realised other industries are important too,” he added.