Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Take Five: Westerners in Bollywood

The film Ekk Deewana Tha released last weekend. It stars Prateik Babbar, who was also in Dhobi Ghat, and Amy Jackson, a British beauty contest winner who is now the face of Armani India. She is not the first westerner to star in a Bollywood flick. Today's Take Five is all about westerners who have spent some time in Mumbai.

 Emma Bunton


Emma Bunton, also known as Baby Spice, makes a cameo appearance in a song from Pyaar Mein Twist. Around the time of filming there was a documentary showing how she got on in Bollywood. I watched the documentary and all I can remember is how she wiped off half the make up before shooting started and complained about the lack of schedual. I don't think she has been back to bollywood since.



Kylie Minogue 

Kylie Minogue went one step further than Emma Bunton and actually sang her own vocals for her number in Blue. She expertly flirts with Akshay Kumar and gives and dances excellently in Chiggy Wiggy. I'm sure Kareena Kapoor wore the same dress when she danced her item number in Don.

Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg  teamed up with RDB and Akshay Kumar to make the title track of Singh is Kinng. He was the first mainstream artist from the USA to feature on a Bollywood soundtrack. Snoop Dogg even donned a turban to get himself fully into the role.

Rachel Shelly

English actress Rachel Shelly taught a group of villagers how to play cricket in the film Lagaan. The soundtrack to this film was fantastic, apart from O Re Chori. The English bits never quite mixed in well enough with the Hindi parts. Apart from this song, Rachel Shelly acted brilliantly throughout the film. 

Antonia Bernath

Graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Antonia Bernath starred in Kisna opposite Vivek Oberoi. Again, the soudtrack to this film was great, but there is something cringeworthy about this song. 





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