Modeling- A platform for Bollywood

By: Nikita C Fernandes

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

What do Aishwarya Rai, Juhi Chawla, Arjun Rampal ,Sushmita Sen, Diya Mirza, Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu, Dino Morea, Shiny Ahuja, John Abraham, Celina Jailtley and Priyanka Chopra have in common apart from their killer looks and awesome bodies? Yes, they shared one platform namely, modeling. These model turned actors were highly successful in modeling before stepping into the world of bollywood. Many actors believe that modeling gives them a stable foundation to be recognized before getting their first break in bollywood. Most of these stars believed that modeling is a stepping stone to bollywood. Without entering into the world of modeling, their life would take a very different turn by making their entry into bollywood more difficult and inaccessible.

Most model turned actors stepped into modeling by catching our attention in beauty pageants. Who can forget Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai sashay down the ramp after winning their titles? No one. These beauty queens inspired millions of Indians who watched them and wanted to be like them in every manner. Young girls desired to look like them and take part in these beauty pageants. Mothers of teenaged daughters would pester their kids to dress well and push them forward for beauty pageants. With the advent of these exotic beauties, India was in for a beauty revolution. These strong willed beauty queens had no looking back . They reached their destination - Bollywood in no time.

With this instance, many young aspiring actors looked up to their role models to pursue their much sought after bollywood dream. Modeling is an arena more to do with beautiful personalities than fashion per say. No one is throwing dust one anyone's eyes here, as it is a well known fact that, clothes look good on a beautiful body rather than on someone ill-proportionate. Beauty is all over the place and looking uniquely gorgeous is the mantra for models. These stars surely had what it took to be a Hindi film star and yes, they did it with style.

It is well known preconceived notion that models can't act. There were many instances when models were criticized heavily and were shown the exit. However, over a period of failures, there were many of these same models who proved critics wrong. For instance, Aishwarya Rai was considered plasticky in her debut film Aur Pyar Ho Gaya but with time, she set by bollywood by storm in her stellar performances in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. John Abraham is another actor who has also won several accolades in his films like Jism, Dhoom and Taxi no.9211. Athough Shiny Ahuja is just 2 films old, his mind blowing performance in Hazaaron Khwaishye Aisi and Gangster has won him millions of fans.

Many young and upcoming actors like Samir Dattani believe that modeling provides them easy entry to Bollywood. Daisy Boppana of Garam Masala fame have been cast with extremely successful actors like Akshay Kumar and John Abraham. Katrina Kaif famous for ads campaigns like Seagram's, Lakme and Dyna have acted in films like Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya and Humko Deewana Kar Gaye cast opposite Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. Models like Deepika Padukone and Shivani Kapur are the new entrants to Bollywood after a successful stint in modeling? What lies ahead, only time will tell. Watch this space for more.