Indian-origin actors protest against ad by Bollywood filmmaker
Two local actresses of Indian-origin have protested against an advertisement brought out by a Bollywood production house here seeking “white males and females” as junior artistes for a movie being shot here alleging that it amounted to racial discrimination.
Assia Khan and Shirdika Pillay had responded to an advertisement in a local newspaper seeking “good-looking white male and female” extras for the movie ‘Race’ starring Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Bipasha Basu.
“What really hurts us is that we are their fans. We are the ones who will go out and watch their movies, buy their CDs and concert tickets. But we are not good enough to be in their movies. Whites don’t even know who they are, but they chose them to be in their movie,” Khan told reporters.
The girls said when they turned up at the sets the film crew was surprised to see them because “we were not white”.
“It was clear that they didn’t expect us there. All the extras where white men and women and the only Indians on the set were the actors,” said Khan. “We had to stand right in the back, away from the cameras.” However, the South African line producer for the movie, Rakesh Maharaj, said that the advertisement “has nothing to do with racism”.
“We are required to work with a script and follow instructions. Not every scene requires Indians, so that is the reason an advert was placed calling for a specific group of people. It was to create a balance in the movie.”
Maharaj said “We have used a South African Indian woman as a body double for Bipasha, so how can they say we are being racist? We already have a scene of a mixed audience.” “Saying that only Indians support Bollywood stars is a generalisation, as they are known worldwide,” he said.
But local sociologist Ashwin Desai alleged the advertisement and the action of the producer was demeaning to South Africans, especially people of colour, who had fought racism all their lives.
He claimed it was against South African laws to advertise for jobs on the basis of colour.
— PTI
Leave a Reply