The American dream has lived as vividly in Indian cinema as it has in Hollywood itself. Bollywood has had its Swiss meadows and London skylines, but the United States has always represented something more aspirational. In Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), New York’s skyline and lifestyle are inseparable from the storytelling. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) uses the city’s loneliness and urban pace to frame extra-marital relationships. Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007) is perhaps the ultimate representation of the American dream — fame, cars, and money, and what it means to lose it all.

My Name Is Khan (2010), New York (2009), and English Vinglish (2012), are stories that would make no sense if they were not set in the US, these cities almost becoming characters themselves. English Vinglish famously described Manhattan as aadmi, topi, dhoop ki chhaon (man, hat, tan). When he thinks of Times Square, film commentator Pulkit Kochar doesn’t picture the blinding lights or dazzling billboards. Instead, he remembers, “Salman [Khan] in the song Sau Dard [from Jaan-E-Mann (2006)] crying there.”