Hindustan Times (Gurugram) - Hindustan Times (Gurugram) - City
Being a ‘white face’, I’d mostly get offers of colonial characters: Edward
American actor Edward Sonnenblick came to India 14 years ago, and has been here ever since. You have seen him in several films, TV and web shows, even if you don’t recognise him by his name. Recently seen in RRR, he says he had learnt Hindi even before coming to India to try his luck. “My life changed when I saw my first Hindi film, Lagaan (2001). I loved the music, the language, people, costumes. I watched it a few times, then 150 Bollywood films in the next year. After a visit to India, I couldn’t think of anything except going back,” he says.
Sonnenblick, who has been a part of films such as Veere Di Wedding (2018), Kesari (2019), and the web show Bose: Dead or Alive, sensed it very early on that he could land roles easily due to his looks and nationality, instead of it becoming a hindrance. “There was a
Singer Sona Mohapatra recently called out social media users who criticised actor Aamir Khan’s daughter, Ira, for wearing a bikini at her birthday party. And since then, she herself has become a target of the trolls.
Mohapatra, who was also at the pool party, raised her voice against the shaming with a note on Instagram: “All the people outraging about Ira Khan’s choice of attire or linking it to what #AamirKhan said, did or niche for someone like me in the industry... White faces got colonial characters. That’s the majority of roles that come my way. But I do get other roles to play. I starred in a short film, Saving Chintu (2020), where I played a regular, nice American guy trying to adopt a kid,” adds the 39-year-old.
However, even colonial chaaracters are not the same. He says, “In RRR, the villain is onedimensional, that’s what you expect from that kind of a film; that’s fine. No villain thinks he is a villain, you have got to play it from that perspective.” didn’t in the past please note; she is 25. A free, thinking, adult woman. Doesn’t need her dad’s approval or yours.”
Opening up about getting trolled for her post, she says, “Under the garb of ‘sanskaari’ custodians of our culture, the troll brigade showcased their ‘sanskaar’ by asking me to pose naked in public, calling me names and extending the courtesy to my 70-year-old mother, who has no voice or say in this conversation.”
However, the Ambarsariya (Fukrey; 2013) singer remains steadfast in her belief to call out such mentality, as she feels this kind of behaviour can have consequences offline, too. “Normalising such trolling and shaming of young women for their attire on the internet strengthens and encourages misogynistic behaviour, not only online but in real life, too. This behaviour is a mirror of the society’s mindset,” she adds.
Since the incident, the 45-year-old has spent most of her time deleting hate comments: “Despite having the strongest profanity filters turned on, I have been deleting the emotional violence continuously.”
My life changed when I saw my first Hindi film, Lagaan. EDWARD SONNENBLICK, Actor