Can Parminder Nagra Become A Mainstream Hollywood Star?
I watched ER a few weeks ago only because I am a fan of the British actress Parminder Nagra. I wish Parminder would get bigger mainstream roles I think she deserves it. It is interesting “Bend It Like Beckham” was such a huge international hit yet Keira Knightley is a big star and Parminder is on ER.
The issue I have is why can’t Parminder have the same opportunities as Keira? Keira is a solid actress and she is very talented but so is Parminder. I would like to see Parminder get some leading lady roles soon.
One movie role Parminder should be the star of is the film “Tulia” about an Indian American lawyer Vanita Gupta. African American actress Halle Berry is the leading lady in the film. Last time I checked Berry is biracial she has European and African heritage she is not South Asian. Vanita Gupta a young South Asian lawyer successfully won the release of 46 African Americans in Tulia Texas on a drug bust.
Shouldn’t the casting of the leading lady be racially accurate? The attitude of Hollywood is South Asian women are “invisible” are “displaced” and not “palatable” for North American audiences. The only reason Halle Berry was chosen for the lead role is due to her celebrity.
The question remains is Halle Berry really a box office draw? “Perfect Stranger”, and “Things We Lost In A Fire” both bombed at the box office. Halle Berry has been most successful recently in ensemble films such as X MEN.
The ideology in Hollywood is African Americans and South Asians “look similar” due to skin tone. Hollywood thinks the public can’t tell the difference between African Americans and South Asians. Since Halle Berry is African American the belief is she can pull off a convincing performance as a South Asian American woman. But is this true? Is this fair to South Asian actresses languishing in secondary roles in Hollywood ? What about the concerns of South Asian people? Is this right to change the race of the leading lady just for profit and business?
Or is this going to be another “A Mighty Heart” all over again? I understand Hollywood wants star power for the movie but choosing Halle Berry for the lead role is deleterious, racist, and incredibly offensive. How many leading lady roles do South Asian actresses get in Hollywood? The answer is zero. Halle Berry should be ashamed of herself she clearly has a huge ego and zero class.
Halle Berry is such an arrogant, selfish, hypocritical, woman she is not South Asian yet she doesn’t mind taking a role meant for a South Asian actress. Halle Berry and her publicity team always market her as the “victim” the public is supposed to feel sorry for her. I am not falling for Halle Berry’s publicity game any longer . Halle knows how hard it is for women of colour to get the leading lady roles yet she doesn’t mind taking on a role that wasn’t meant for her. Halle complains in the media all the damn time about how hard she has it.
Yes, it must be so hard for Halle Berry after all she makes $14 million per movie, multi million dollar endorsements with Revlon & Versace. Halle also receives an incredible amount of mainstream attention compared to other actresses of colour. Halle is also the top actress of colour in Hollywood whenever Hollywood has a major role for a woman of colour Halle gets called first for the role.
I am very disappointed in Halle I believe Parminder should be the star of this movie “Tulia”. “Tulia” should be Parminder’s breakthrough performance she deserves this leading lady role. Parminder has the talent to pull of this very dramatic and intense role if Halle Berry had any class she will drop out of the film. Isn’t it time for another woman of colour to shine in a leading lady role besides Halle Berry?
Meanwhile, Parminder is on television she has a steady gig on ER. Parminder’s character Dr. Neela Rasgotra is the most complex character on the show. Dr. Rasgotra has dealt with the death of her husband, falling in love with a fellow co worker, and trying to maintain her career.
I was on an internet message board the other day and some bloggers actually said Parminder would never make it in Indian Cinema. I responded back saying what about Nandita Das? Nandita Das is a gorgeous woman and talented actress she also has a darker skin tone as well. Nandita has been very successful in both Indian and Western movies. The other bloggers responded back that Nandita Das is an exception to the rule. Is this true? According to the information I have read Parminder is considered “too dark” to be successful in Bollywood. But is this this true of just gossip?
It seems the issue of skin tone racism and beauty standards exist in many communities across the globe. It is well known in the African communities light skinned women are placed on a pedestal compared to darker skinned black women. I have learned in South Asian communities the “lighter skinned” female image is the image that is considered more palatable for Indian film audiences. In Bollywood films the leading male character can be a dark skinned Indian man but the leading lady tends to always have Eurocentric features and lighter skin. Other bloggers also suggested that Parminder is doing the right thing trying to succeed in Hollywood instead of Bollywood.
Parminder Nagra is a STUNNING woman. She is much prettier than Aishwayra Rai, imo. She is fabulous.
I agree Aulelia, Parminder deserves bigger roles and she should be the female lead in the film “Tulia”. The film “Tulia” could of been Parminder’s breakthrough role in North American cinema. “Tulia” is about a South Asian American woman Vanita Gupta I just feel Halle Berry is wrong for the part. Berry needs to step aside and Parminder should be the star of “Tulia”.
Hollywood is about money…it rarely makes decisions on who would be best for the role, but rather who is going to bring in the most money.
Halle Berry has earned the right to say yes or no to whatever pictures she chooses. I think it is unfair to say that she is selfish because she won’t step aside for someone else, when no one stepped aside for her.
I love Parminder…I watched ER for a time just for her…but are there any guarantees that Parminder would get the role if Halle dropped out?
I say, don’t blame Halle…blame the business of Hollywood and its backwards ass thinking…
I agree Hollywood is a business but what does this say about Hollywood and society? It seems to me Hollywood is saying South Asian women aren’t “marketable enough” to sell a film to North American audiences. Also this movie role is a complex role it would be a breakthrough for a South Asian actress to shine in a leading lady role. Tulia could be a huge opportunity for a South Asian woman to obtain the mainstream media attention and hopefully open doors for other Asian American actresses.
Black people we talk about Hollywood racism against us but we have to remember Asian Americans also encounter an incredible amount of discrimination in Hollywood. Hollywood won’t even give a South Asian actress the opportunity to shine in a leading lady role and this upsets me the most. I believe a South Asian actress should be the female lead. The logical choice would be to go with Parminder Nagra she is beautiful, she is young, she is talented, and she can act.
Why can’t a South Asian actress star in a biopic about a South Asian woman? Why go the extreme and choose an African American woman? The filmmakers aren’t thinking about the concerns of the South Asian American community. I think it is offensive and racist to cast a black woman in a role meant for a South Asian woman.
Halle Berry may have earned the right to choose roles but she’s acts like she is the “only” actress of colour in Hollywood that has struggles. Halle Berry wants to make sure she gets “all” the leading lady roles meant for women of colour. Halle Berry is all about Halle Berry. Berry comes across as arrogant and very self centered I don’t feel sorry for her. It is kind of annoying to read interviews about Halle complaining about her “how hard she has it” when Berry has top choice over all women of colour in Hollywood.
I don’t see Berry as this great role model she appears to me as an “opportunist” and a hypocrite. Berry complains in the media about “how hard” she has it yet she makes $14 million per movie and has multi million dollar endorsements. I am certain South Asian actresses aren’t thrilled that Berry is taking on this role when she is not South Asian. The movie is based on true events it is based on Vanita Gupta’s story.
If you check out an internet board for South Asians called Sepia Mutiny they are not thrilled either that Halle Berry is the female lead in “Tulia”.I agree 110% it is racist and offensive to the South Asian American community. Blacks aren’t the only ones discriminated in Hollywood in fact Asian American actors encounter a lot of racism as well. In fact, I think Asian American actors have it harder then black actors to obtain the big movie roles.
I also didn’t agree with Angelina Jolie getting the female lead in “A Mighty Heart” since she doesn’t have black heritage. The real Mariane Pearl has black roots. I feel the exact same way about “Tulia” Halle Berry is not South Asian she’s not right for the role. In “A Mighty Heart” Hollywood discriminated against African American women by going to the extreme and hiring a white actress Angelina Jolie. Next, Jolie’s skin was painted in “blackface” and she wore a kinky curly wig to have a more African appearance. It was so offensive for Hollywood to do this because so many black women could of been the star of “A Mighty Heart”.
The third pic is Vanita Gupta she is a South Asian American woman. Tulia is a real story though its going to be a biopic. I think Parminder would have a “solid” chance to get the role over other South Asian actresses because she has been in hit movies before like “Bend It Like Beckham”. Americans also know Parminder because she is on ER. Shouldn’t there be some racial accuracy to the role too?I think Halle Berry is wrong to take on this role and she also looks very hypocritical and selfish too.
Parminder Nagra is a STUNNING woman. She is much prettier than Aishwayra Rai, imo.
Aulelia, I loves ya BUT YOU ARE TOTALLY INSANE! Aishwayra Rai IS FAR MORE BEAUTIFUL. You kiddin’ me?!! LOL
Now that that’s out of the way, my comment ws gonna be: Hell, sometimes I wonder if anybody should aspire to Hollywood. Go to the stage.
That’s why she’s my GRAV… most of the time, anyway. LOL.
@theblackactor, loves you to but LOL, Parminder is much prettier than Rai. Rai looks like an opaque doll. She does not look real, imo
LOL
What?! LOL.