They crossed borders with mostly acting on their minds. Instead, they got typecast as "item girls". Now, they believe things are changing. Bollywood is noticing their acting skills, insist Nora Fatehi, Elli AvRam and Evelyn Sharma.
If it's about dance and happens to be a recreation, then "Dilbar" girl Nora is your go-to person in Bollywood right now. Nora, who had moved from Canada to India a few years ago to become an actress in Bollywood, has done some intense drama opposite Vicky Kaushal in the music video of singer Arijit Singh's "Pachtaoge", an interesting cameo turn in "Batla House".
"This year the audience gets to slowly see my acting abilities with projects such as 'Batla House' and the forthcoming 'Street Dancer 3D'. I've been waiting for such opportunities to come my way as I've always wanted to be an actress. With a project like 'Pachtaoge', I got to purely showcase my acting skills to another level," Nora said.
She made her acting debut with "Roar: Tigers If The Sundarbans" in 2014, but the dud show of the film meant her scope as an actress did not get much of an impetus.
"Then I started doing whatever came my way. I got the opportunity to feature in hit songs, and I tried to showcase my dancing skills through them. Despite not being a trained dancer, I became a dancing sensation, which I would not have expected 10 years back. I just went with the flow. It was not planned," Nora had told IANS.
"I am now where I am just because of my dance performances. People paid attention to me because of my dances. I feel my dance performances are helping in growing my brand as an artiste, as a lot of projects - including acting roles - are coming my way. Doors have opened for me," she added.
Swedish-Greek origin stunner Elli AvrRam, has a similar story. She has had a mix of dance and acting projects. She played the lead actress in "Mickey Virus" and also shared screen space with comedy King Kapil Sharma in "Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon", but it was her dance numbers in movies like "Fraud Saiyaan" and "Poster Boys" that got her attention. Her "Chamma chamma" dance in "Fraud Saiyaan", recreating an Urmila Matondkar original from the nineties, was a runaway hit. What's more, she had a comic little cameo role in the film, too.
"I have to say I'm really grateful to be part of the remake of such a timeless iconic song with stunning and powerful Urmila Matondkar," she had tweeted.
German-Indian actress Evelyn Sharma's journey in Bollywood has been a bit different. She has also shown her dancing skills, but mostly in music videos of songs including "Anni pa de". In films, irrespective of their scale, she has mostly done acting. "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" and most recently the multi-lingual "Saaho", starring Prabhas, are some of her films that she can boast about.
"‘Saaho' is my debut film in Tollywood. Telugu was difficult to learn initially but I had so many people to guide me on the sets - like Prabhas and director Sujeeth, so I managed to learn my lines quickly. I have finally learned Hindi now and Telugu is a completely different language. But I'm always up for a good challenge! We had so much fun shooting together with the pan-Indian cast, in three different languages!" Evelyn had said.
In the movie, Evelyn's character is called Jennifer. "It's a small but significant role where I will be seen in an action avatar for the first time," the actress had said, adding: "I couldn't be happier that I am a part of the biggest action thriller of 2019."
Other imports include Katrina Kaif and Jacqueline Fernandez, who are more than pretty faces or the "spicy" ingredients in Bollywood films.