Actor Abhay Deol notes that the portrayal of Indian men and women in western cinema pigeonholes them
The DevD star Abhay Deol points out how the orient still perceives Indian men as nerds and women as ‘exotic’ in American shows. These are only two of the many stereotypes American mainstream cinema should stop, as there are more to explore and smash.
“I think stereotyping people is a reality whether it is in Bollywood or Hollywood. Even in our cinema, we stereotype few communities. But if we look at mainstream American cinema and television, I would say, we Indians are shown in two extremes. On-screen, Indian men are usually shown as nerds and Indian women are shown as exotic, attractive and beautiful. This kind of stereotyping puts a community in a pigeonhole, which I do not like. Having said that, I do not want to look at the past anymore because we are changing the conversation with better roles, better representation and better storytelling. I see no reason to hold on to the past and sulk about it, we are storytellers, we rather should change it,” says Deol.
Manjari Makijany, who recently directed the Disney film Spin, which features Deol, calls Priyanka Chopra Jonas the “face of change” and explains how the actress is smashing the stereotypical representation of South Asian characters. “Casting actors like her in lead roles, whether it is in Quantico or in films in which she played a substantial part because of her talent, is the way forward,” she added.
Makijany continues, “I think people also tend to making Indian characters speak with a put-on accent in western cinema. They think we talk like that all the time. Listen, there is no one Indian accent when we speak in English. People from north Indian speak in one kind of accent in English, which is different from the south. But western cinema stereotyped that for the longest time.” According to her, “The entire Indian community is not loud, that is another stereotype. But I am hopeful that like Priyanka, there will be more role models from South Asia to break stereotypes in the western cinema.”