BOLLYWOOD'S GREEN CARD HOLDERS

Foreigners getting a foot in the Hindi film industry door are intent on making the most of it

- Suhani Singh

Born in Australia and raised in Germany, Daniel Bauer, like most foreigners who arrive in India, wasn’t well-versed with Hindi. It’s also why the hair and make-up artiste had difficulty pronouncing his first celebrity client’s name—Aishwarya Rai. “To avoid embarrassment and [causing] offence, I called her Aish,” he says. After 12 years in Mumbai, Bauer’s Hindi has improved. The names of his clients—Deepika, Katrina, Kareena, Alia, Anushka, Vaani and Kangana—now roll off his tongue smoothly. Be it fashion shoots, commercials or movies, Bauer’s services are frequently sought.

A trailblazer no doubt, Bauer isn’t the only foreigner to have made it in the Hindi film industry. There are others who have made India home and risen through the ranks: British-Indian Katrina Kaif, Bahrain-born former Miss Sri Lanka Jacqueline Fernandez, PakistaniCzech US model Nargis Fakhri and Mexican actress Bárbara Mori, among others. Earlier, the industry had the bald Bob Christo, a villain in over 200 films, and the Myanmar-born iconic Helen. Like her, there are other expats trying hard to find a fine balance between dancing and acting. Elli AvrRam is one.

A year after she arrived in India, the Greek-Swede signed her first film, Mickey