Speak Hindi? Need something to do for a month or so this fall? Excellent! A production company is now casting for a feature-length film called 9 Eleven—-which, judging by the casting notice, I take to be a mash-up of The Matrix, Halloween, and World Trade Center.

In fact, writer/director Manan Singh Katohora is fairly sure that 9 Eleven will be the first Bollywood film largely shot in the D.C. area. I’m not quite sure, exactly, how to check this fact, but I left a message for the culture department at the Embassy of India. I’ll update when I hear back.

“I really can’t give too much away about the plot,” Katohora says, describing 9 Eleven as a thriller. “All I can say is it has the undertone of terrorism—it’s about characters and about life decisions.”

Katohora, a 34-year-old Silver Spring resident, has made several low-budget, English-language films starring mostly South Asian actors. These include Arya (2003) and When Kiran Met Karen (2008), which Katohora describes as “a controversial cross-cultural lesbian film.”

According to the e-mailed casting notice, producers are looking for Hindi-speaking actors as well as 250 extras (!) for a dance sequence. They won’t be discriminating by ethnicity, the note says.

While Katohora says the film will be an ensemble piece without a marquee lead, he’d like to cast a famous Bollywood actress in the elaborate dance scene. Katohora says he and his producers are looking at several options.

While Katohora wouldn’t reveal his budget—-it’s a “medium-sized film,” he says—-he says his main producer is Narain Kumar Mathur. Mathur doesn’t have any producer credits on IMDB or various Bollywood databases, but according to a Washington Post article, he ran in 2006 for the Charles County Board of Education and lost.

The film will be in Hindi, and will be released in India and throughout South Asia, Katohora says.

Here’s the full  notice, with contact info for prospective actors, extras, and crew members:

BOLLYWOOD AUDITIONS – AUGUST 21 and AUGUST 22 – MARYLAND

HINDI SPEAKING ACTORS – Send pics and info to – hcasting911movie@gmail.com

For Business, Distribution, and ProductPlacement Queries – Email narainmathur@hotmail.com or Call 301 213 5588

(You will have to take a month off for the film, Bollywood Movie will be filmed in Maryland/WashingtonDC/Virginia/NewJersey/NewYork)

We need 250 extras for a Stage Dance Sequence – An Item Number with a famous Bollywood Actress (the name will be revealed soon).
Email pics and weekends/weekday availability to – extras911movie@gmail.com
Any ethnicity.

We are looking for Production Interns, Production Assistants, Assistant Directors.
This is your chance to work on a BOLLYWOOD FILM PROJECT – aimed for Theatrical Release in INDIA, and all other South-Asian centers where Hindi movies are played.
We need LOCAL CREW (MD/DC/VA) – Send info to – crew911movie@gmail.com