The British in Bollywood

The British in Bollywood

by Rumbold on 5th June, 2008 at 8:04 pm
(courtesy Pickled Politics)

There was an interesting story in Eastern Eye about how in the future we are likely to see more British Asians in Bollywood (and presumably regional cinema), thanks to a £13 million deal signed between the Indian and British governments, to encourage more Indian films to be shot here, as well as hiring more British actors and actresses. There are already a number of white British actors and actresses in Indian cinema, including Chris Patten’s daughter (Alice), Toby Stephens and Paul Blackthorne. All in Aamir Khan films, curiously.

British Asians include Upen Patel, Katrina Kaif, one of the rising starlets of Bollywood (English-born) Genelia D’Souza (pictured below) and the quarter-British Ayesha Takia, who had to learn Hindi before becoming an actress. While researching this piece I found that Sarfraz Manzoor had written a much more detailed article on British Asians in Bollywood. Is this trend likely to continue?