Firang beauties in Bollywood

The number of ‘phoren’ gals joining B-Town is steadily increasing. Are they just one-film wonders? TOI finds out more.
Back home in Sweden, Swedish-Iranian model and dancer Maryam Zakaria used to run a dance school for young children. Growing up on a healthy dose of Bollywood films, Maryam’s destiny gave her a chance to shake legs with Kareena Kapoor in Agent Vinod.With her foreign accent and international looks, who would have thought that she would do justice to a mujra number in a Hindi film? Maryam’s just one of the many firang beauties who are now from Bollywood. From Bruna Abudullah (I Hate Love storys), Liza Lazarus ( Veer ) , Giselle Mont e i ro (Love Aaj Kal) to half Czech - half Pa kistani actress Nargis Fakhri (Rockstar), Canadian model Mia Uyeda (Blood Money), Britain born Amy Jackson (Ekk Deewana Tha), Keira Chaplin (Chaurahein), Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez, Candice Boucher (Azaan), Brazilian model Nathalia Kaur in Department, and Russian model Era Tsariova in Akashaditya Lama’s Cigarette ki Tarah.
Thanks to B-Town’s obssession with international looks, these foreign beauties with well - sculpted bods and exotic screen presence are the current flavour. After stints as calendar girls and in ad films, the lure of the big bucks makes them move base to India (half of the world is also going through recession). Fashion and celeb photographer Dabboo Ratnani says, “If you think of casting an Indian model today then she comes at a higher price. These models with their international look are tailor-made for the photoshoot.” Their remuneration varies anything between 25,000 to 1 lakh.
With models from Latin America, US, Europe, France and Asia doing item numbers and cameos in films, does this mean there is less work for the desi girls? Filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwalla says, “When I took Jacqueline for an item number, she was already a model. But having said that, you do require an element of freshness and glamour for the film. The role should be about a foreign actor.” Actor Mia Uyeda has absolutely no problem in shedding her inhibitions. She says, “Even A-grade heroines are wearing bikinis and doing cameos. Intimate scenes and kissing are part of every script today. I have been here since six years and I’ve been accepted.” Brazilian beauty Nathalia Kaur whose over-the-top pictures are already creating curiosity much before the release of her film, says, “Shooting for a Hindi item song was fun. The tough part was dancing with 200 men around me. But Bollywood is a magical world.” Nathalia will now be doing an item number in the Telugu remake of Dabangg and an untitled film opposite Rana Dagubatti.
But inspite of getting a couple of offers, it’s not an easy ride for these ‘phoren’- girls. The pressure to sustain a career is immense.
The fact that heroines don’t have much to do in the male dominated film industry is the reason why filmmakers are constantly looking for attractive new faces. Trade Analyst Komal Nahta says, “There are hardly any great roles for heroines today. A foreign girl is an eye candy. And most of these South American and Asian beauties with their black hair sometimes can be mistaken as Indian girls. Most of them charge say around 25 lakh (offer price) and move on to getting between 50 and 75 lakh for their next film.”
So whether it is the big bucks or glamour, the phoren girls are yet to make a desi connection.