It’s not that hard to get interviews within the South Asian film community…usually if you are with the “mainstream” press you can get in b/c it’s not like there are tons of non-desis knocking down the door to get an interview. Just present yourself as legitimate and professional and you shouldn’t have a problem. You should also have a good forum; saying you’re writing a freelance article that you *hope* to get published is not as strong as saying that you have your own website (better than saying “blog” even though it can be both) or magazine that you are writing for. I mean, Filmholic and Nirali seem to get interviews with Kal Penn and Karan Johar, etc. but it’s not as if they are the New York Times. They would have a much harder time getting an interview with a mainstream, popular Hollywood star.

Also helps to have a legitimate journalism background. Seems like Filmiholic went to Columbia U for journalism. Though j-school’s merits are debatable, it does provide legitimacy in the eyes of non-journalists.

Anyway, didn’t mean to “steal” this question from Filmiholic, just thought I’d throw in my two cents about the “mystery” behind all these interviews!

Best to all,

Radha