When Frieda Pinto made an appearance in a few scenes of Danny Boyle’s multi-Oscar winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, she emerged a surprised package, who swept the western audience, with her enigmatic brown looks.
The magic of brown girls from Indian showbiz continue to make its presence felt internationally as Priyanka Chopra and now Deepika Padukone make an entry in Hollywood.
It’s hard to tell at this point whether the west has all of a sudden ‘discovered’ the Indian beauties or if the Indian girls have smartly understood the code to crack it. For instance, Priyanka Chopra’s sharp acumen coupled with the right contacts of her global manager Anjula Achariya Bath is the reason behind her success.
Nimrat Kaur rejected several Bollywood offers after getting critical acclaim in ‘The Lunch Box’, while her agents laboriously looked for suitable roles until she auditioned for her role as an ISI agent in ‘Homeland 4’.
After the release of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, Frieda revealed how she was turned down by the Indian filmmakers at the auditions, because of her thin frame and brown skin. Her looks evidently did not fit in the frame for the typical Bollywood filmmakers, who specialised in movies catering to the masses. It is a well know truth that Indians have an affinity for voluptuous and fair-skinned women.
Frieda’s distinct beauty and understated presence on screen helped her become one of the most recognised Indian faces in Hollywood, who went on to work in several prominent films by eminent filmmakers. She worked in Woody Allen’s ‘You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger’, Michael Winterbottom’s ‘Trishna’, ‘Immortals’ and ‘Dirty Dancing’. Clearly, she was loved in Hollywood, her looks and her style, were talked about at the red carpet on various occasions.
Priyanka Chopra made a distinct presence in the US last year, by playing an FBI recruit Alex Parrish in ABC’s ‘Quantico’ which paved her way to grab People’s Choice best actor in a new series award, and as a presenter at the Screen Actor Guild Award. As she prepares to present an award at the Oscars this summer, rumours are rife that she would be the new brown face in the upcoming Baywatch movie, slated to be released in 2017.
Last week, Deepika Padukone tweeted a picture from the sets of ‘xXx: The Return of Xander Cage’ with Vin Diesel. The ‘Piku’ actress also posted the first look of her character Serena on Facebook, recently confirming her debut in Hollywood. It’s too early to conclude if Deepika will have a successful stint in Hollywood or not, but given her massive popularity in India, each update on Vin Diesel’s movie will remain a talking point.
In 2007, Aishwarya Rai appeared alongside Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth in ‘The Last Legion’ and also made a villainous appearance in ‘Pink Panther 2’. Her other international outings included movies such ‘Provoked’ and ‘Mistress of Spices’. Though her international outing was one of its kinds, but it was not an appreciation for the brown girls. Aishwarya was the most recognised Indian name in the west, who had exotic looks, Miss World title and had a strong fan following as the L’Oreal brand ambassador at the Cannes festival red carpet.
Tabu as a poignant Bengali NRI woman in Mira Nair’s ‘The Namesake’ and later as Pi’s mom in Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’ was the quintessential rise of Indian women in the western cinema. Mallika Sherawat’s blink-and-miss role in Jackie Chang’s ‘The Myth’ was too small to be referred to as an international outing, although she used the movie as a publicity tool. She later appeared in Jennifer Lynch’s ‘Hisss’ and ‘Politics of Love’, which was too big a disaster to be included in the list.
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