Friday, March 29, 2024

News Destination For The Global Indian Community

News Destination For The Global Indian Community

FILM & MUSIC
LifeMag
Indian artist can be a global icon: Monika Gaba

Indian artist can be a global icon: Monika Gaba

VITAL STATS

Gender: Female

Height: 5 feet 8 in

Weight: 120 lbs

Physique: Slim

Hair Length: Long

Eyes: Brown

Voice Type: Alto

FILMS

Son of Morning, The Goddess, Hothead entertainment/Yaniv Raz, Dostana, Anaita Dharma, Karan Johar production, Vale Tudo, Ringo's girlfriend, Devon Media Group, Infinite, Sara,79 Productions, Full Grown Men, Neighbor, David Munro/Grottofilms, SushiBar, Amelia, Lost Cause Productions/Thiago Lima Production

TELEVISION

Untitled Jamie Foxx Comedy Sketch, Fashion Model, Fox TV, MTV Video Music Awards, Opening Video-Live TeleCast MTV, South Beach(TV Series), Runway Model, Jennnifer Lopez production(UPN), Model Season(TV Series), Monika(as herself), Plum TV

Performance Skills: Singing, Dancing

Spoken Languages: English, Hindi, Urdu

Musical Instruments: Guitar

Dance: Belly, Club/Freestyle

AWARDS

Dulce Art Awards/Theatre Institute of South Florida, Nominated-Best breakthrough performance, 2007 Nominated by the Theatre Institute of South Florida The Emmys 2009 (regional- suncoast), Nominated Best entertainment/documentary

  1. You have a unique exposure of working in Hollywood and Bollywood, what is the basic work difference between the two places? A. Having worked on both Hollywood and Bollywood projects, I've noticed Indian films are made at a much faster pace. The scenes are shot and wrapped up quickly, hence the high volume of Bollywood releases every year. The other difference is the content spread. For example, a conventional Hindi movie will have a little bit of all life elements in a single film. Some comedy, drama, romance, music and action, all sewn into one story. On the other hand, Hollywood tends to stick to one genre throughout a given film. It's either a comedy or action throughout, more or less.
  2. How is an Indian artist taken up in a pure Hollywood environment? A. Hollywood is currently a fruitful environment to be in for an Indian actor. There are a lot of projects being made with leads and supporting parts for the East Indian ethnicity. And it doesn't stop there. Since we have physical similarities with the Latin American, Spanish, Middle Eastern, and Greek/Mediterranean looks, an Indian artist can easily cross over to those parts as well. The industry here takes very well to ethnic actors and is open-minded, and even excited, about the possibility of seeing someone "different" in a project.
  3. Your favorite Hollywood and Bollywood artists? A. My favorite artist in Bollywood is Shahrukh Khan. He is an original and he carries the same magnetism off-screen that he has on-screen. Amongst the Hollywood circle, my favorites are Russell Crowe, Kristen Stewart, Ben Stiller and the new success Jessie Eisenberg.
  4. Tell us about your dream project that you would like to do in Bollywood and Hollywood? A.In Bollywood - I would love to see an action film with a female lead, in the vein of "Salt", "Tomb Raider" or "Kill Bill". That would be a dream project for me, and also something I have not seen yet in Indian cinema. In terms of filmmakers, Madhur Bhandarkar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Vidhu Vinod Chopra pop into my mind, immediately. They have very strong female roles without compromising the character's femininity.

In Hollywood: There are so many fantastic projects and film-makers here. I love pushing my boundaries as an actor. I gear towards material that is edgy, but I recently worked on a comedy which was a blast. The next one may be action, maybe a musical. So I can't wait for the next surprise.

(Inputs from Arnab Kar, Fashion correspondent based in USA)

Indian artist can be a global icon: Monika Gaba

Indian artist can be a global icon: Monika Gaba

VITAL STATS

Gender: Female

Height: 5 feet 8 in

Weight: 120 lbs

Physique: Slim

Hair Length: Long

Eyes: Brown

Voice Type: Alto

FILMS

Son of Morning, The Goddess, Hothead entertainment/Yaniv Raz, Dostana, Anaita Dharma, Karan Johar production, Vale Tudo, Ringo's girlfriend, Devon Media Group, Infinite, Sara,79 Productions, Full Grown Men, Neighbor, David Munro/Grottofilms, SushiBar, Amelia, Lost Cause Productions/Thiago Lima Production

TELEVISION

Untitled Jamie Foxx Comedy Sketch, Fashion Model, Fox TV, MTV Video Music Awards, Opening Video-Live TeleCast MTV, South Beach(TV Series), Runway Model, Jennnifer Lopez production(UPN), Model Season(TV Series), Monika(as herself), Plum TV

Performance Skills: Singing, Dancing

Spoken Languages: English, Hindi, Urdu

Musical Instruments: Guitar

Dance: Belly, Club/Freestyle

AWARDS

Dulce Art Awards/Theatre Institute of South Florida, Nominated-Best breakthrough performance, 2007 Nominated by the Theatre Institute of South Florida The Emmys 2009 (regional- suncoast), Nominated Best entertainment/documentary

  1. You have a unique exposure of working in Hollywood and Bollywood, what is the basic work difference between the two places? A. Having worked on both Hollywood and Bollywood projects, I've noticed Indian films are made at a much faster pace. The scenes are shot and wrapped up quickly, hence the high volume of Bollywood releases every year. The other difference is the content spread. For example, a conventional Hindi movie will have a little bit of all life elements in a single film. Some comedy, drama, romance, music and action, all sewn into one story. On the other hand, Hollywood tends to stick to one genre throughout a given film. It's either a comedy or action throughout, more or less.
  2. How is an Indian artist taken up in a pure Hollywood environment? A. Hollywood is currently a fruitful environment to be in for an Indian actor. There are a lot of projects being made with leads and supporting parts for the East Indian ethnicity. And it doesn't stop there. Since we have physical similarities with the Latin American, Spanish, Middle Eastern, and Greek/Mediterranean looks, an Indian artist can easily cross over to those parts as well. The industry here takes very well to ethnic actors and is open-minded, and even excited, about the possibility of seeing someone "different" in a project.
  3. Your favorite Hollywood and Bollywood artists? A. My favorite artist in Bollywood is Shahrukh Khan. He is an original and he carries the same magnetism off-screen that he has on-screen. Amongst the Hollywood circle, my favorites are Russell Crowe, Kristen Stewart, Ben Stiller and the new success Jessie Eisenberg.
  4. Tell us about your dream project that you would like to do in Bollywood and Hollywood? A.In Bollywood - I would love to see an action film with a female lead, in the vein of "Salt", "Tomb Raider" or "Kill Bill". That would be a dream project for me, and also something I have not seen yet in Indian cinema. In terms of filmmakers, Madhur Bhandarkar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Vidhu Vinod Chopra pop into my mind, immediately. They have very strong female roles without compromising the character's femininity.

In Hollywood: There are so many fantastic projects and film-makers here. I love pushing my boundaries as an actor. I gear towards material that is edgy, but I recently worked on a comedy which was a blast. The next one may be action, maybe a musical. So I can't wait for the next surprise.

(Inputs from Arnab Kar, Fashion correspondent based in USA)

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