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Giselli Monteiro, Barbara Mori, Amy Jackson... A slew of foreign beauties are playing key roles in Bollywood films. But director Abhishek Kapoor feels this obsession with "white girls" can be damaging to 'desi' actresses.
"Our obsession with white girls playing lead in Indian films is extremely detrimental to the psyche of the Indian girl. As bad as selling fairness cream," tweeted the "Rock On!!" director.
"Our Indian girls are being sidelined to favour of this Caucasian invasion... STOP this madness and recognise our own beauties," he added.
Kapoor, who is now working on "Kai Po Che!", based on Chetan Bhagat's "The 3 Mistakes of My Life", says he is especially disturbed with how filmmakers cast foreigners in the role of an Indian girl.
Brazilian model Giselli featured as a Punjabi girl in "Love Aaj Kal". She also played an Indian in "Always Kabhi Kabhi".
British model-actress Amy Jackson played a Malayalee in "Ekk Deewana Tha".
"I have no problem with a Caucasian girl playing a Caucasian... But selling her as a Punjabi or an Indian is deluding the audience and also making the Indian naive woman feel inadequate.
"Extremely harmful to their psyche, and people in power should be more responsible," wrote Kapoor.
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It aint gonna change anytime in the future.
It is sad but true. Only producers and filmakers can change this but dont think they will.
I am indian guy and cannot connect emotionally to a white girl, else I would have married one.
I want a half indian girl, but its not easy finding one for a normal person.
I don't pay money to see white women speak bad Hindi. I pay money to see Indian people in an Indian movie in an Indian context. If I want lily-white people, I can go and pay to see Hollywood and European movies. Rock On, AK.
So why don't you do something about it/ Where are the indian beautiful girls. why aren't they used? Instead of the Katrina, Jacalines, Amy's, Gissele etc. When was the last time indian girls won something international also? It is joke also that Katrina is seen as Indian when she is not? So does the media do something about that? tell the indian audience the truth about her...
Wonder why he didn't name the biggest foreigner Katrina Kaif, she is the biggest lair calling herself half indian. Gets a a fake name and fake father etc.. LOl maybe he is afraid of Salman Khan. KK made it possible are these foreigners are coming her and say we are indians and also getting indians roles lol?
FINALLY SOMEBODY IS SPEAKING OUT..IM GLAD! THE PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE DONT ACT ON IT.
He forgot to mention Katrina Kaif , she is just a white girl with a tan!
this is a very xenophobic article. the fact is bollywood is now has an international audience, not just desis. it has lots of fans from many countries. hiring actresses that aren't indian to play lead roles allows the audiences from various countries to identify with her.
yes, it is a hindi language film but it is marketed internationally & trust me... MANY FOREIGNERS WATCH.
The money that these bollywood filmmakers spent for dubbing, dancing, teaching foreign girls the language, culture, dancing, acting, etc would have been better spent in creating better scripts n training the appropriate indian girls throughout india as leading ladies.
But Barbara Mori played her own role as a MEXICAN!!! I loved it, they kept it real!
DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN TRUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ABHISHEK! FINALLY!!! Katrina also enter in this list, she's the first infact!
and also - it is REALLY sad if guys can't look past a woman's skin colour.
To all the girls who have been told they aren't fair enough -> HE ISN'T WORTH IT. HE SHOULD LOVE YOU AND NOT YOUR SKIN COLOUR. GOOD IT DIDN'T WORK OUT.
so nice to see a director talking sensibly. i hope people take up his advice seriously.
I agree a 100% on this. The Indian audience is so easily influenced by Bollywood movies that it may have a significant effect on the definition of beauty in their minds. It's evident even when you look at matrimonial ads -- tall, slim, fair ---ridiculous! for all you know, the guy looks like an alien from outer space but this is what he wants his bride to look like. It's high time we recognize Indian beauty -- an outstanding example is Freida --- considered beautiful in Hollywood not so much in Bollywood. If others can see it, why are we turning a blind eye towards the beauty in our own features.
Gotta love the comments. "Watching white girls as Indian girls raises expectations"... so you're admitting white girls look better? LOL.
Sat, 2012-05-19 12:53 — Anonymous
I agree with him 100%. This is damaging the psyche of not only Indian women but also Indian men too. Watching white girls in Bollywood movies all the type raises the expectations of men. My friend's sister who has dusky skin can't get married because every man keep rejecting her since she doesn't have FAIR skin. Indian and Pakistani men want fair women, and Indian and Pakistani women want to be fair. This is what our generation has come to. I feel fortunate to be blessed with fair skin but it's not fair to girls with dusky skin.
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This is so TRUE. I live in America and I can't tell you how many of my friends have been rejected by Pakistani and Indian men because they have dusky skin. This doesn't just happen in India
please guys ask your self :
why you thinks that Aishwarya(good actress) beautiful not Nandita Das(excellent actress ) ????????
the answer will open your eyes
Fri, 2012-05-18 15:31 — Anonymous
I THINK HE IS NICE BUT........ TALKING ABOUT INDIAN THINGS HIS MOVIE(Rock On) IS NOT SEEMS INDIAN !!
i agree with you
SO BLOODY TRUE.
so much respect for this guy.
agree with him 100%. if we don't appreciate the talent of men and women in our country.who will?
This needs to be posted up on every Bollywood website!
Thank you Abhishek!
I agree with him. Rockstar could have been a classic had the leading ladies part was enacted by a capable Indian actor like Amrita Rao, Anushka Sharma or someone else who fit the bill.
Sat, 2012-05-19 12:53 — Anonymous
I agree with him 100%. This is damaging the psyche of not only Indian women but also Indian men too. Watching white girls in Bollywood movies all the type raises the expectations of men. My friend's sister who has dusky skin can't get married because every man keep rejecting her since she doesn't have FAIR skin. Indian and Pakistani men want fair women, and Indian and Pakistani women want to be fair. This is what our generation has come to. I feel fortunate to be blessed with fair skin but it's not fair to girls with dusky skin.
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i agree
my pakistani friend was rejected and the same guy n family asked for her sister cos she was as fair as milk.But my friend has better features and is nt very dark also.She s 30 now :( real sad...now they both r married and she s hunting for one.The same thing happes in India too.
Oh its ok, let them come and work in bollywood, our girls must go and make better names in hollywood, that wld be the only answer for this!!
Totally agree! Thank god someone in bollywood finally said something
True white girls shown as indians raises expections of others.it raises the beauty bar.indian women has different body type,features,skin hair etc.It actually effects psyche.
I totally agree with you.......
I don't watch all the hindi movies which are released these days. I check who is in it..if there is a white girl pretending to be a indian girl, that's it no more. And if the directors and producers are sooo keen on white girls why not a white boy in hindi cinema......
this is nothing to do with racism, because they is a place for movies for each race..italian cinema for italian, spain, hollywood for american....and so on....
SO pls give indian people a chance and give them jobs because its very tough for them when they leave india and work in overseas and treated like 2nd class citizens....So pls remember charity begins at home.
and by the way bleaching and whiting your skin may cause cancer or other complications and we would not know no becos there is no evidence yet but later on who knows...using all this chemical on your delicate skin may harm.
yeah he is right.
Iam african american and I love indian movies, but lately it seems that Bollywood is more into beauty then acting. Bollywood is selling its soul to the white man or should I say it already has. Example Katirna Kaif and her white a*** sisters passing their butt off as indian. You want this to stop, stop going to the movies hit their a** where it hurts in the pocket. Every since entertainment was born white people has tried to play us, us as in black, latino, asian, and indian. This sh** need to stop. The white man wants to take over every damn thing. If you know anything about the history of african cinema, than you know what I mean.
wow. somebody FINALLY said it.
so can we please all admit that as hot as she is katrina turquotte can't act? or dance? or..speak hindi?:S
if they could act and speak the language without dubbing -even that would be tolerable to watch.. nargis, jacqueline, giselle and of course katrina just cannot act
I agree with him 100%. This is damaging the psyche of not only Indian women but also Indian men too. Watching white girls in Bollywood movies all the type raises the expectations of men. My friend's sister who has dusky skin can't get married because every man keep rejecting her since she doesn't have FAIR skin. Indian and Pakistani men want fair women, and Indian and Pakistani women want to be fair. This is what our generation has come to. I feel fortunate to be blessed with fair skin but it's not fair to girls with dusky skin.
Bollywood films are fantasy and the heroine is essentially the ideal Indian woman. When you cast white girls as Indian you're basically saying the ideal Indian woman is not even supposed to be Indian which is demeaning and degrading for Indian women. And it's shocking how many women themselves have the same opinion.
Seeing white girls in an indian movie is like a bad curry mixing.
Because of the difficulty of being cast in hollywood, and recession in countries like uk,australia,europe,usa,canada young white girls want to enjoy the luxury life of an actress so they come to bollywood after sleeping around with producers,directors. People like SUBHASH GHAI, MAHESH AND MUKESH BHATT, madhur bhandarkar, abbas mastan take advantage of it. Seeing this even south indian directors take advantage of it.
I dont see this changing anytime the next 15 yrs. It is going to be more difficult for indian girls to enter bollywood. These white girls will eat their jobs.
I am giving up bollywood and its overated musical movies. If ever I see any movie it only will be amir khan's movie. The rest are hopeless and not worth your time.
im glad someone found Bipasha or else Bollywood would officially be known as Despos for Fair Skin. dark skin can also be sexy like hers. look how much people love her for her looks not her skin. and her dark skin makes her even sexier. and............. katrina kaif just not desi AT ALLLLL. she ruined everything once she stepped in.
I AGREE! Stupid Indians and their twisted complex of skin complexion, eye colour etc.
FFS, Indians need to realise that we are mostly DARK, with DARK hair, skin and eyes. ACCEPT AND EMBRACE.
I agree! But our own people do this to us, look at Aish, Priyanks, Asin, and Kajal, NONE of them were fair and yet they chose to endorse fairness brands, if these girls started speaking on how dark skin can be beautiful too, they would mould to the role model title more. Before people start saying, why i didnt name kareena, its because shes fair to begin with, not that this means its not wrong for her to be doing it, but i beleive that it worse for a dark person to endorse the creams because they must have felt the world telling that they are dark, and instead of agreeing with them, they should try to change it more.
agree..!
I agree with him.
I one hundered percent agree with him so many beautiful girls in india why would you want to import foreigners. Its an insulte to indian girls. This is india and indian movies people from india should be given priorty either fair skin or dark skin girls they have talent and beauty so why should one hire a white girl who look so artificial when they can't understand or even talk in hindi.They look so fake.
kiran
sydney
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, this is much needed!! This article should be getting more recognition than the silly aishwarya ordeal.
Thank you Abishek, ROCK ON!
And this includes background dancers being white too, it's funny how Indians are putting themselves out of work and giving more opportunities to these foreigners . Thats too bad
I don't understand this stupid obsession either. We need more smart, educated and talented directors like Abhishek. Indian girls are gorgeous with their beautiful skins. Go design girls! Be proud of your looks and heritage.
well said. they are such terrible actresses as well.
Well said! They are all such terrible actresses as well.
As an Indian and as a malayali I was offended while watching ekk dewana tha cos gautam menon being a malayali how could he cast her while he casted south indian ( n half mallu ) Samantha as a random girl adn she was strikingly good too.
I m tired of wathing this lip - moving machines like amy jackson,giselle and katrinaand a to caucasian standards they r average too.Kalki is a diff case she s an indian of french origin like Luke kenny.
ppl like kareeena ,karisma ,pooja bhatt,tulip all have foreign blood who satisfies our craving for white skin.
i agree wid abhishek ...love u. And surprisingly these girls are nt strikingly beautiful,they r literally being shoved down our throat
TOTALLY AGREE! So many times i said this myself
The No 1 bollywood heroine with lots of power n influence is non-desi and has enormous fan following in India... what does he has to say about that? Why he is not blaming the filmmakers, directors, brands and actors for encouraging and hiring her for greed, lust and money? She is not even an indian citizen but has temporary working visas earning more than any top heroines and considered the richest, influential and highest-paid actress in bollywood. Its double-standard for the industry... why complained about others and not all?
agree
agreed