Dino Morea on why models looking for a Bollywood career have it tough now: ‘There was a craze, at par with actors’

Dino Morea shares his thoughts on how the number of models making big Bollywood debut has reduced now.

Actor Dino Morea will make his Telugu debut with the film Agent. (Photo: PR Handout)

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Back in the noughties, becoming a successful model was the first step towards acting. Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, John Abraham, Milind Soman, Dino Morea, Arjun Rampal and Deepika Padukone won the catwalk before they found success as actors. Even though acting looks like a natural transition for models, the numbers in recent years have gone down. Actor Dino Morea, who was a regular face on the ramp before his Bollywood debut with 1999 film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, shares the craze for models that public had in the 1990 or early 2000 has changed now.

The actor, who will soon be making his Telugu movie debut with Agent as the anti-hero, feels during the 1990s, fashion in India was reaching its peak and models had the same following as actors did.

Also Read | Dino Morea on playing anti-hero Shaybani Khan in The Empire: ‘Had to bring out animal instincts of the character’

In an interview with indianexpress.com, the actor shares his thought on why the number of models shifting to Bollywood has reduced. He says, “When I started modeling in the late 1990s, it was sort of coming of age in India. Everyone who became a model at that time was idolised and I saw that happen with me also.”

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The actor, who won the famous Gladrags Manhunt and Megamodel contest in 1995, adds, “There was a craze for us which was on par with the actors. That’s not the case anymore”

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Dino had appeared in several advertisements along with fashion assignments before he started acting. After his debut alongside Rinkie Khanna, the actor went on to do films such as Raaz, Baaz…A Bird in Danger and Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain among many others.

The actor adds, “If you are a good actor you get an opportunity. So, you don’t have to be a model to be a good actor right now. Models were also quite popular back then and you already had the fan base that you can tap into as an actor. Unfortunately that is not the case today.”

While several fashion weeks continue to be very popular in the fashion world, mostly it is Bollywood celebrities who are seen as show stoppers for all designers. However, the reach of fashion shows inside homes has gone down now. Dino says, “I don’t know how many people watch fashion shows on TV anymore.”

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He also feels that the excitement for fashion shows at that time was very different as compared to the current times, “At that point it was new for everybody and there was an aspirational value. You wanted to see models, designers and their clothes. Now it’s done and no one wants to watch fashion shows on TV like they would do back then.”

Dino’s Agent will see him play a negative role on the big screen as he fights it off with Akhil Akkineni. The film also stars Malayalam star Mammootty in a pivotal role. The film is set to release on April 28.

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