ME | heylittleraj

Hi. My name is Neeraj Katyal. I’m from Long Island and my parents are from India, which are two places that most people don’t want to be from. For what it's worth, I'm quite proud of my roots.

I grew up in Smithtown, about 50 miles east of New York. (If you really want to get into it, I'm from St. James, which is part of Smithtown, but that's neither here nor there.)

In 2008, I sold a screenplay to Harvey Weinstein for $400,000 against $800,000. It never got made, as it faced a challenging landscape for independent films in the wake of the financial crisis. Given sustained interest in the project some sixteen years later,

I shouldn’t have sold it to anyone, much less Harvey Weinstein. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20, and at the time, I wasn’t keen on turning down the offer. It was worth a potential $1,000,000 in 2008 money. Plus, Weinstein was a king whose Midas touch turned a writer's pages into Academy Awards. His films resulted in 81 Oscar wins and hundreds more in nominations. Before he read, we had a choice of several producers who would package the project, then subsequently go out to potential buyers. I chose a former studio head who was previously named by Forbes as one of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women." She was running Disney as a woman, as a Jewish woman, as a gay Jewish woman, and she was doing all of this in her 30's. We closed the deal on April 14th, but the contracts weren't signed until August 11th -- shortly before Lehman Brothers imploded and the economy followed suit. Not pun intended. In any case, financing for indie films dried up, and I wasn't going to be the guy at the end of the bar who could've sold a screenplay, this one time when I was young. It didn't hurt that the old Miramax team thought the script was better than “Good Will Hunting.” (It was not better.)

It's a thoughtful read, particularly for something I started writing when I was 26 in 2004. It's "R-rated Disney fare" -- that's the aesthetic I was going for -- and I'm very proud of it. I did the best I could with the tools that I was given. Fast-forward to 2025:

I'm writing a manuscript. Before I began, I was extended a (small press) publishing offer. It was from an editor I admire. Terrific.

Unfortunately, writing a book is as difficult as it is rewarding. This is me, 42 years ago, on the day I finished writing my first book. (It wasn't good, even accounting for age.) But one can see from these pictures that I can sell a big boy novel in America and India.

The manuscript I wrote at age five was about an Indian boy from Long Island. The current manuscript is about an Indian boxer from Queens. In terms of spirit and joy, I haven't strayed far from the kid I was in 1983. So with considerable revisions, I expect

to have something heartwarming and fun by 2027. Without putting too fine a point on it, "Uppercut" reflects my humanity in full.

It reveals the depth of my abilities, if not the breadth. (I know these are absurd statements to make. I stand by them.)

I submitted the screenplay it's based on to the Black List under a pseudonym. In California, few people care about script reviews. In New York, publishers care about everything. Now, I've signed contracts on Uppercut twice, which is all very fun, and have a third offer. I'll sign it, but a physical copy of a legitimate book -- published by a reputable editor -- is something I need to pursue.

Strengths

This is a boxing movie unlike any we’ve seen. It's packed with laughs and heart, and has broad appeal and a modern feel. It evades the overly-earnest machismo of traditional movies about fighters. It refuses to treat women as prizes or victims of male aggression. It also refuses to turn its Hindu protagonist into an over-Americanized rebel against his family’s culture. It’s funny at many points throughout. Welterweight Shiva fights with his heart, his wisdom, and his keen sense of humor in real life just as hard as he fights physically in the ring. He’s Indian-American. His widower father, precocious younger sister, and lawyer older sister duck all the stereotypes. Characters are extraordinarily well-voiced and as diverse as the true population of the well-evoked setting. Even their longer speeches are engaging and readable. The action is clear and cinematic without being “voicey”. It seems impossible that Shiva could win until shortly before the last-minute climax, which is delivered as a memorable high-stakes nail-biter. The denouement will leave audiences smiling through tears.

Prospects

[UPPERCUT] is the kind of cinematic, subtle, powerful film that breaks marketing departments because it's so many things. Audiences ranging from art movie fans who hate sports movies to action addicts of all genders who roll their eyes at indie dramas and comedies will enjoy it equally and it's a strong candidate for theatrical stardom. It’s hard to compare it to existing boxing movies because it knocks them all out cold. However, it has the groundbreaking underdog-hero power of the original ROCKY or MILLION DOLLAR BABY mixed with the multi-cultural authenticity of BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM or the teen series NEVER HAVE I EVER (more for the comedy than the cultural setting). While the street and crowd scenes and action make it a medium-budget rather than a low-budget project, the potential audience reach makes it viable. The brilliantly-written supporting parts could attract A-list talent, while the role of Shiva is the perfect breakout role for an up-and-coming Indian star. The writer is gifted; a new star.

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That was nice to read. I'm confident that the novel will be better than the screenplay. The book will be better than the script.

Strengths

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Prospects