In the gold and glitters of the silver screen, we often miss the blues behind it. As exotic and glamorous as Bollywood may seem on the outside, stories shared by celebrities of this cinematic world portray a different picture. In past, many actresses including Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, and Taapsee Pannu have opened up about the ugly side of the industry. Most recently, the new charm of Indian cinema Nora Fatehi – the Moroccan girl living in Canada shared the dejection and bullying she had to face during her struggling days.
In an exclusive interview with @abtalks, India’s most famous dancer shared the moments when she was first offered to go to Bollywood at 11 years of age.
It was like dream come true – Bollywood! We grew up watching Indian cinema and with a dream to one day meet THE Shah Rukh Khan.
The struggle
When she received the offer, she imagined being picked up by a limousine and staying in a nice hotel. But all her dreams dashed to the ground when she faced an entirely different behavior in the industry.
“It was like the biggest slap in the face,” she recalls.
The actress-dancer broke into tears while recalling her “struggle, bullying, rejection and the traumatic experience.”
She recalls her biggest challenge was to mingle in a society that was alien to her. The language, the people, the culture, she knew nothing about Bollywood and had been living in a fantasy world.
Even though she spent hours learning Hindi with a teacher who encouraged her a lot, she always ended up being laughed at, mocked, and humiliated in the auditions.
You’re gonna meet people who are gonna laugh at you on the way, whenever you try to speak. That happened to me all the time.
During the auditions, the directors would ask if she could deliver the lines in Hindi, and she would say yes with confidence, only see them laughing at her face, mocking her broken accent, high-fiving each other.
She said that she went through this same torture for five years constantly.
“It feels like the minute the door’s opening, it’s closing again. That’s what I went through for 5 years, constantly. If it wasn’t the language, it was the fact that I’m not Indian,” said Nora.
The actress also spilled the beans on the trauma she went through when she landed and India and had to share a room with 8-9 local girls who were cut-throat vicious to her and even stole her passport, forcing her back to Canada.
“That was the biggest embarrassment of my life. When I was sent to the counselor, I pleaded with her that please do not send me back.”
The hope
Nora got emotional revisiting all past memories, good and bad, and thanked heavens that she made it through.
“What I have been through, like, all the people I have met, good and bad, I could have given up. Any other girl who could have gone through all that stuff would have been shattered. I mean, it is so easy to give up. But, it’s haram.’ I mean if a human loses hope, it is the worst thing.”
She maintained that the thought brought tears to her eyes that if any girl or a boy who would have gone through even the 50 percent of what she faced and had lost hope, the world would have probably lost another gem who could have proved to be great, who could have made difference in the world.
She also shared the interview on her Instagram handles along with an emotional note that read:
“One of my most vulnerable, real, and honest interviews ever, I have read all ur messages and comments and it makes me feel so happy that u guys have connected with me on a human level and have understood me! Many have related to my story, my feelings, and my thoughts, many have said they are inspired more than ever before! This gives me strength and drives to continue on my path and my dream to fulfill the bigger plan, to instill positivity, hope, upliftment, and enlightenment via my presence!”
And we are getting there slowly! Everyone who has reached out to say thank u for me opening up and being transparent like this I want to say thank u for taking the time to genuinely watch my interview and for respecting my journey, my thought process, and admiring me I always say I’m grateful and lucky to be able to connect and touch people globally on a human level! I wouldn’t have it any other way! If I can motivate and represent then I’m on the right track!”
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