Harvey Keitel (Little Fockers, Reservior Dogs) will star in his first Indian film, Against Itself, portraying a secular expatriate American schoolmaster in India who struggles to protect his students and school from anti-Gandhian forces.

The 71-year-old veteran visited Mumbai and attended script reading sessions, wardrobe tests, interacted with the cast and crew and even went location hunting. “He was excited to see that most people in India spoke English and was impressed with the theater talent we have here, some of whom will be part of my cast,” said producer Sanjay Singh (Udaan). “He’s a westerner, yet more Indian than any Indian,”  adding that Keitel loved the philosophy inherent to the script “being a keen believer in Gandhian values and inspired by Sufi poets like Kabir, Meera, Rumi and Hafiz.”

Keitel visited India 15 years ago and sharing his exposure to Hindi films and movies based on India, confided “I like Mira Nair’s films. Salaam Bombay was terrific. I also liked Slumdog Millionaire.”