One of India's upcoming movie stars just might be the girl next door. By Sylvia Maria Gross
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Leawood, KS – Anita Galler's mother is Indian and her father is American. She grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City, but her parents made sure she stayed in touch with her South Asian heritage.
As a child, she studied Indian dance and grew to love Bollywood films. While they spoke English around the house, her mother's original language is Telugu, the official language of India's largest state, Andhra Pradesh.
21-year-old Anita Galler was a student at the University of Missouri last year, when she traveled to India to visit her mother's family. There, she noticed a casting call for a film, and, on a whim, decided to try out.
Two days later, she was told she got the part in a remake of one of India's most popular films, the 1978 movie Maro Charitra. The film is in Telugu, and therefore considered part of southern India's Tollywood film industry.
KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross caught up with Galler recently at her parent's home in Leawood.
Watch trailers of Anita Galler in her first Tollywood film, Maro Charitra. The movie is currently playing in India, and in some theaters across the United States.
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