Confessions of a foreigner

One such artiste, 20-year-old German student Marian Brehmer, wrote in a magazine about his experiences in the industry. “Unlike many Indians who would sacrifice everything for a ticket to the glittering sets of Bollywood, it was a fairly easy deal for me.

No casting couch, no relationships, no bribes. My white skin was enough for me to enter India’s dream factory for one night,” said Mariam. “A stalwart bloke approached me at Leopold Cafe in Mumbai’s Colaba. Waving his visiting card, he said, ‘You want to be in Bollywood? It’s a night shoot— departure tomorrow at 7 pm’,”  he added.

“After more than two hours in traffic, the bus dropped our group, consisting of 15 foreigners, off behind a Thane shopping mall. One burger and a few French fries later, I found out that I am soon to become an American. The film I am going to act in is a Karan Johar production, set in the United States. Suddenly, she was there, among us. The diva had emerged out of nothing. None of us has great appreciation for actors we have hardly ever heard of — Kareena Kapoor, and then Imran Khan, who joined her later. Kareena seemed utterly unreal and unapproachable to me. She was treated not as a star, but like a living goddess. Even the staring men were spellbound by Kareena’s invisible halo and kept their heads down.

Then as suddenly as she came, Kareena took her leave.”