Indian glamour finds new foreign
stars By Indrajit Basu
KOLKATA - When Tina Edwin (name changed on
request) landed in Mumbai three months back to
work as a researcher and writer on contract, all
she had in mind were a few months of hard work and
living on a tight budget.
That was how she
spent her first two weeks until she was approached
by the manager of the budget hotel she had checked
into. The manager offered her an assignment that
would simply involve her posing for photographs
wearing a new line of apparel meant for the
catalogue of an Indian exporter trying to break into
the
global markets. For a day of shooting, Tina was
offered not only an attractive fee, but also food,
transport and a free night at the hotel.
"It was cool," said the slender
28-year-old Canadian resident, who could easily
pass herself off as a participant in a beauty
pageant. "I got several assignments during my stay
here. It helped me earn some extra money and enjoy
my stay." And, as she packs her bag at the end of
the first leg of her research in India, Tina has
even registered herself with a modeling agency in
Mumbai that has helped her obtain the necessary
permission in the country to enable her to win
more modeling assignments during her next trip to
India.
Tina, however, is not just a lucky
foreign visitor. Be it in movies, television
commercials, ramp-walking, music videos and even
swimsuit calendars, international models and
actors are increasingly swamping the Indian
glamour industry as the country opens up and
integrates with the world.
According to
industry estimates, in the past six months at
least 500 international models were engaged just
in Delhi and Mumbai - up from just 100 or so a
year back - spanning all sectors of fashion,
entertainment, Bollywood (the Hindi film
industry), and even publishing.
Driving
this sudden demand is a combination of reasons,
all of which could be summed up in just one word:
globalization.
"It started about four
years back, when foreign companies started coming
to India to shoot commercials for their products,
primarily because India offered world-class skill
sets in terms post-production and back-office
work, and at much lower costs," said Enakshi
Chakraborty, the chief executive officer of Eskimo
Talent Agency, the Mumbai-based subsidiary of
Eskimo, an Icelandic firm, which claims to be the
top international model consultancy in the
country.
"Initially, they started hiring
foreign tourists on holidays in destinations like
Goa, but that raised issues like work permits and
adherence to other local rules," said Chakraborty.
"That's when agencies like Eskimo came into being
for supplying models through an organized and
professional system, which in turn opened up a
plethora of opportunities for international
talent."
"A flattening world helped, too,"
said Ankit Mehta of Delhi-based Inega Model
Management, which claims to be yet another top
international model-placement agency in India.
"Many Indian brands now have global aspirations
and have realized that to compete with global
brands, they need the international look, for
which using international models has become
imperative."
But even if many local brands
do not have international aspirations, they still
use international models just to establish the
fact that such brands meet international norms and
quality. Clothing and apparel makers, the auto
companies, the fashion sector, and even
music-publishing companies cite examples that show
that their demand increases significantly when
foreign models are used.
The impact of
globalization, however, is not following a single
track in the Indian glamour world. Just as local
companies are trying to crack the global markets,
global brands entering the Indian markets also
need to cater to the nuances of the local market,
and that creates a demand as well for
international models in the country.
"A
Louis Vuitton commercial used in the United
States, for instance, may not work at all in
India," said Ankit Mehta. "India is a unique
market. The commercials for foreign brands
entering Indian must have that international
flavor, but it also have to meet local tastes. For
example, while an international model must be
featured, the models must wear clothes that do not
offend the local culture."
Lack of fresh
faces is another major reason driving the demand
for international talents.
"The local
markets for most industries have become extremely
dynamic," said Enakshi Chakraborty. Not so long
ago, a commercial shot for a product could last
for years. But many products or companies change
their commercials every three months these days.
"That requires a constant supply of new faces, and
international models come in handy," said
Chakraborty.
But if the influx of
international talents in India's fashion sectors
is driven by a genuine demand, the sudden
extensive casting of foreign actors in Bollywood
is more of a fad than a real trend. Indeed,
suddenly Bollywood has become irresistible for
foreign actors as a new generation of Indian
filmmakers have started casting foreigners in
everything from minor roles to major supporting
parts and even lead roles.
"Like all other
industries, Bollywood is becoming increasingly
global and is one of the reasons why actors from
all over the world have started finding roles in
Hindi films," said Arjun Sablok, a director at the
production company Yash Raj Films. "It helps to
earn more foreign exchange and reach viewers all
over the world."
But director Siddharth
Jain said: "You will find that most foreign actors
play comparatively insignificant roles. It is true
that much more foreign actors [are] finding roles
in Bollywood lately than ever before, but the
roles are mostly for dancers or part of a crowd in
a scene, and this is just a fad." Jain is a
director at Adlabs Film, a company that is working
on a cross-cultural film called Marygold,
featuring the popular Hollywood star Ali Larter.
"Stories of Hindi movies that have
important roles for foreign actors are still few
and far between," said Jain, "and I am not sure if
the trend is going to last long."
This is
perhaps why there is more money in the fashion
sector for international models than Bollywood,
although lately the Hindi film industry appears to
be getting equally aggressive in casting
international talent. According to industry
sources, an international model, if registered
with an agency, can command a daily fee of between
US$500 and $1,500 per day - depending on the
model's standing in the profession - while
freelance models without agency backing are paid
about $100-$200 per day.
"Unless a foreign
actor is an established actor, the money is much
less in a Bollywood side role," said Jain.
The latest craze for casting foreign
actors by Bollywood in almost every dance sequence
in Hindi films these days may be a passing fad,
but the demand for foreign models is here to stay,
said Chakraborty of Eskimo. "Aside from the fact
that demand continues to increase, model
coordination is getting increasingly professional
in India, which makes the country a better place
to work," she said.
An important
difference about working in India is that the
industry treats its models well.
"Working
in India is like heaven," said Kitty, a model from
Hungary. "In China, for instance, where I worked
before coming here, we were not allowed to rest
even for a moment in the normal eight-hour shift
and were told to change up to 200 times in each
shift. Some fainted in that grueling environment.
And in Japan, our principal checked our trash cans
every day to see if we had more candies or
sandwiches than what we were allowed."
Chakraborty said it is imperative for all
aspiring international models and actors seeking a
career in India to be enrolled with professional
coordination agencies. "It saves a lot of
hassles," she said, adding that demand exists for
a wide variety of international talents, "starting
from those with Oriental features to those with
colored skin".
Indrajit Basu is
a Kolkata-based journalist.
(Copyright
2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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