A number of people aspire to become actors one day. And some lucky ones even get an opportunity to showcase their talent to everyone. But it’s not that easy to survive in this industry. Hazel Keech, who’s going to be the female lead in Ira Khan’s directorial debut play, talks about her Bollywood journey.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, the actress shared that she was judged for her name and accent.
Hazel said:
For me, it was frustrating coming to Bollywood, growing up in a very Hindu traditional Indian household with a British father and trying to convince people I’m Indian after being judged by my name and accent.
However, after so my years here in India, she has seen Bollywood change.
She shared:
From certain requirements like having classical dance training and speaking Hindi to having none of those matter anymore. Women don’t even need to be Indian anymore. Today, we have leading actresses from different nationalities as well as Indian.
We all remember Hazel as Kareena Kapoor Khan’s friend in Bodyguard. And that’s the only Hindi film she’s done as an actor. Not that she didn’t get offers, but they were all similar. She was looking for something different from what she has already done. Hence, Hazel did the item song Aa Ante Amlapuram in the film Maximum. Again, she was only offered item songs. “As an actor, I only want to work in projects that interest me, the story as well as the role. When I commit to anything, I give it my 100% time and energy, so I don’t compromise on the work I do,” she said.
Coming to Ira’s (in case you didn’t know, Ira is Aamir Khan’s daughter) play, it is going to be based on Euripides‘ Greek tragedy, Medea. As per reports, they have already started rehearsing for the play.