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Journalism of Courage
October 6: The days when America was considered the land of opportunity have long gone. Even further back are the times when the streets of London were paved with gold. For the last two decades, most people have been looking towards the land of the rising sun to seek their fame and fortune.
But, now the sun shines brightest closer home. Mumbai has, of late, become the Mecca for wannabes. Called Non-Required Indians, the filth from the Far East has found a new home in a city which is a blend of both worlds.
By the way, the word `filth’ is not a comment, it is actually an acronym, for Failed in London Turned to Hong Kong. A term coined by the Chinese, it gained popularity when the city was flooded with veejays, actresses and musicians from all over the world.
But with the insecurity caused by the handover, the filth decided it was time to relocate, and that’s when Mumbai became more than a speck on the map.
Take a look at Bollywood and Tellywood. You cannot turn a corner without falling over an accent, a foreign passport and an exotic name. These are all accompanied by bio-datas that are empty but which fill up on their arrival on Indian shores.
For instance, there is starlet Anjala Zaveri of Himalayaputra. A nobody till Vinod Khanna discovered her, she does nothing but crib about Bollywood and the casting couch. But does she leave? No way.
Storming the world of pop is Anaida. Half Greek and half something else, she came to India when the rest of the world shut its doors on her.
Then there is Lisa Ray. Every time she makes it big in Mumbai — from the Cinthol ad to a role in Mukul Anand’s Dus — she goes back to Canada to check her prospects. She comes back, sooner than later.
But the phirang invasion is most evident on the idiot box. The word veejay is synonymous with mixed blood. On MTV, there is Kamal Siddhu, her beau Danny McGill and soon to be seen Los Angeles’s Benoy Joseph.
And on Channel [V] there is Ruby Bhatia, Layla, Suchitra Pillai and Sophiya Haque.
What is about India that lures these belles from far-off lands? Sophiya moved to Hong Kong in the late ’80s when MTV Asia was launched. She wanted to be a ballet dancer but could not make the grade and decided to turn to music. That project too did not exactly take off and her band released just one album that met with moderate success. But her future did lie with music — presenting it, not making it.
"MTV was looking for anyone with an international connection who looked Indian," she said. It was almost inevitable that the half-English, half-Bangladeshi veejay move to India. She is so much in demand here what with her veejaying, compering events and fashion shoots, that boy friend Pete also relocated.
Sophiya admits that the ride to fame is short and sweet here. "It is easy to cross over from veejaying to modelling," she says.
Abroad very few veejays have made the transition. The only model-veejay is Cindy Crawford, who anchors MTV’s House of Style. In India once you are a veejay, can speak with a twang and are 10 pounds underweight, you are automatically a star.
Look at Danny McGill. A struggling musician in Los Angeles, his band faded before it was even heard. Before MTV Asia rescued him, he was working in a sex shop and living on the streets. His move to Mumbai — though now he has relocated to Singapore — proved to be a life-saver.
Suchitra Pillai, a former hostess with an Indian restaurant in London, dabbled in acting but admits that she never made it past the token Asian face in films. In India, Suchitra already has her own show, Simply South on Channel [V] and is in the tele-serial Margarita. She is also in Lilette Dubey’s play Dance Like A Man.
Meghna Reddy, who took the reverse step — going from Mumbai to London and Paris — has the inside story. Says she, "Though it is a bigger market out there, there is a lot more specialisation. And having an Indian face can be a major disadvantage." For instance, Meghna went for only six casting tests while her white colleagues went for about 12 tests. While black is hip and white is cool, brown is still a colour out of favour. Says Meghna, "While the West is looking to the East for inspiration, in the modelling world our colour is still not accepted."
But even for Afro-Americans it has been an up-hill struggle that started with Beverly Johnson in the ’60s. It is only now that major make-up companies are signing black faces. Even Naomi Campbell complains of racism in the fashion world.
The only Asian-looking model to make any waves is Yasmeen Gauri, who has some Pakistani blood. Runner up Miss Universe Madhu Sapre also found no work in London and returned to Mumbai.
Seeing her cousin Kamal’s success in Asia, Matti Saran moved to Mumbai a couple of years ago as well. She had her own show in Canada but it was catering only to the Asian market. For Indian faces to make it big, it’s hard.
Meghna agrees. "People wanted to use me in their creative shoots but not for commercial work. For catalogue work you still have to be white-skinned, blue-eyed and blonde," she says.
Channel [V] veejay Laila Rouass agrees with her. Says the London-born and bred import, "The moment they know you are Indian they are not interested." Her agent even suggested that she change her name from Laila to Lilly as it
sounded more Western. Laila first came to India to do some work for an English company. Providence smiled on her when she was offered a job with Channel [V]. "Life is easier here as the industry is much smaller and everything is so new. To make money as a model it is probably better to come here, as there are only a handful of top models," she says.
Today, Laila hosts Close up Close Encounters and can be spotted on the ramps of all major fashion shows. Her face has graced the cover of many magazines. Despite her newfound celebrity status, Laila still hopes to go back to London.
But she may find the climate too cold there. Particularly after the warm welcome she was accorded in Mumbai. It’s okay to be different in India but in their own countries, they are not such hot property.
So, while most Indians dream of making it big abroad, it seems that phirangs — in a reverse glam drain — opt for making it big in India.
