An American in Madras traces American-born filmmaker Ellis R. Dungan’s years in India. Born in 1909 and hailing from Barton, Ohio, Dungan reached India on February 25th, 1935 intending to stay for 6 months, but ended up staying for 15 years! During this period, he brought many technical innovations to the developing Tamil Film Industry of the 1930s and ‘40s, and all this, without understanding the language. Dungan directed the great Tamil superstar MGR's first film, Sathi Leelavathi (1936), as well as famed Carnatic vocalist MS Subbulakshmi's most famous films, Sakuntalai (1940) and Meera (1945).