“Major confusion occurred in India among fans when this movie was released. Many people who had seen the film thought that Fisher Stevens (who played the part of an Indian) was actually Bollywood actor Jaaved Jaaferi. This was due to Jaaved being the spitting image of Fisher Stevens, with his beard and round eye glasses. Jaaved had just had his first release, Meri Jung (1985). In the film, he sported round eye glasses and a beard. When this movie released in India, many thought Jaaved had acted in a Hollywood movie. It was only after Jaaved confirmed in interviews that another actor starred in this movie, that people finally knew the truth.”

“According to Fisher Stevens, the character Ben was originally intended to be Caucasian. The role was then re-written to be more of a comedic ethnic part, after Bronson Pinchot was in talks to play Ben. When the deal with Bronson fell through, Fisher was asked if he could make his accent more ethnic to make Ben's scripted lines funnier. Fisher spent five weeks living in India to prepare for the role. His performance convinced many viewers that he was Indian, but Fisher stated that he would never be able to play that role today.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5753433&forum_id=2Elisa#49122558)