The Willow Tree is the Zeitgeist America-to-India/baseball-to-cricket movie project, all vibrancy and colour, captivating beyond even the leap of imagination to “The Natural meets Field of Dreams meets Lagaan”, that sets the stage for India to unveil her intriguing, complex dimension to American audiences, where the nation’s passion for cricket runs deeper than America’s own for baseball, and where Indian and American sportsmen go head to head, putting aside their differences and an unwelcome involvement in a huge betting scam, to focus on the only thing worthwhile - to play with honesty and sincerity.
The first quarter of the story is rooted in the American tradition of baseball, the second quarter adapts to cricket in England, and the second glorious half covers blistering hot Twenty20 cricket action in India. We’re transported from small-town USA to LA, on to London, then New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The panorama is stunning, the canvass epic, with the intention to draw in two mega-audiences and deliver an authentic cinematic experience.
The narrative structure has been adopted to more readily convey American audiences to the heady world of Indian cricket, and the Screenplay contains the very elements required to appeal to a broad audience: love, families, friendships, exotic locales, money, villainy, honour, choices, doing the right thing, passion and mystery.
Love of ‘bat & ball’ unites the three great cultures of America, England and India, and delving deep into our story’s heart we reveal a theme of Universal resonance.
Our Heroes must rediscover the love of playing simply for the love of playing.
