NRI Films was founded in July 1999 by Renu and Devashish Saxena in Dallas. Their vision is to create independent feature films built around characters who examplify the south asian diaspora. NRI Films is closely associated with various filmmakers in the US and India.

NRI is an acronym for "Non Resident Indian" - a term that is often used to describe people of Indian origin living outside of India. Many people who have emigrated from South Asia share a common deep culture. One that often manifests itself in the form of films. It is not uncommon to find a third generation South Asian who is an avid fan of movies and tv shows from back home.

NRI Films hopes to continue to create intelligent feature films that will highlight the hopes, fears, dreams, and day-to-day lives of South Asians everywhere.

Born in Kanpur, India to film fanatic parents, movies have been a part of Devashish's life from as far back as he can remember. His parents took him to his first movie at a tender age of ten days. And although, Devashish does not remember much about this movie, he is told the name of the movie was "The Train" and it starred the Bollywood superstar of yesteryear - Rajesh Khanna. In retrospect, Devashish wishes his parents had picked another movie - since he did not grow up to be a Rajesh Khanna fan.

Devashish pursued the arts throughout his academic career - spending a lot of time painting, writing, and participating in theater. However, of the three degrees that he now holds, none are in the arts field. B.S. - Computer Science. M.S. - Computer Science. MBA. Following his MBA, Devashish spent some time as a management consultant. He has now retired to a more sensible lifestyle and is pursuing a very satisying career, developing Internet Strategy for a major seminconductor company.

Nonetheless, Devashish continues to pursue his passion for filmmaking through NRI Films. He works closely with Renu to help stablish the company. Their first project was a small feature film called Karma. Karma played at several college campuses around the US and was selected for the New York Independent Film and Video Festival. His next project was a short called The Chase. In 2002, Devashish is finishing up his second feature lenght film entitled Wedded Bliss?.

Devashish has played various roles in all NRI Films projects from writing to acting to directing. He is passionate about all three - and refuses to have to pick one. Although, he senses that he may not want to continue to do all three for every project. He hopes that as his circle of filmmaker friends continues to grow, he will get opportunities to pick the capacity that he plays.

In 2002, Devashish also played one of the lead roles in Happy Birthday. This film was directed by Yen Tan and is currently on the festival circuit. Devashish is very proud of his performance in this film - and he felt he was really able to concentrate on being an actor - since he was not distracted with other production issues. Devashish also played a small part in a film called Mere Acquiantaince which will be released in the fall of 2002.

Filmography:

Wedded Bliss?	2002	Lead Actor, Writer, Director
Happy Birthday	2002	Lead Actor
Mere Acquintaince	2002	Principal
The Chase	2000	Lead Actor, Writer, Director
Karma	2000	Lead Actor, Writer, Director, Producer

Renu was born at home in Dholeta - a small village in Punjab. However, it was only a couple of months later that she flew to the United States with her mother, to be with her father in Dayton, Ohio. After spending a few years in Dayton, Renu's family moved to Dallas - where she has spent the rest of her life. Her daylife makes her a dentist. B.S. - Biology. D.D.S. Renu has been practicing dentistry for over 6 years and has a large group of happy customers with clean teeth, who always floss every night.

Outside her work life, Renu shares the same passion for filmmaking as her husband, Devashish. She grew up on Bollywood movies - some of them she has watched almost hundreds of times - thanks to her grandfather who loved them. She used to sit with her Pitaji and watch Indian movies on video almost on a daily basis - often debating with him about what was good and what could have been better. These debates lead to various occasions where she would imagine herself in front of the camera as well as behind, as a powerful force in the creative process.

To date, Renu has been a strong supporter of all NRI Films project from idea to execution. She continues to develop more story ideas on a daily basis. She plays an important part during the writing process - often not taking the credit - but participating as a person with whom to bounce ideas - to help develop fuzzy ideas all the way to clear, conscise, words in a script.

Renu's strengths are clearly as an actress. She brings a sense of reality and naturality to every role she plays. She started with a lead role in Karma and continued with another lead performance in Wedded Bliss?. Her role in Wedded Bliss? continues to win her accolades in sneak preview screenings. She is continuing to take some acting classes to help sharpen her skills and she looks forward to another challenging role in the near future.

Filmography:

Wedded Bliss?	2002	Lead Actor, Producer
Mere Acquintaince	2002	Principal
The Chase	2000	Producer
Karma	2000	Lead Actor, Writer, Producer