Katrina Kaif becomes the new face of Barbie

Bollywood beauties are taking over the world - move over Angelina Jolie and Eva Mendez, there are two new girls in town to steal your limelight as two Bollywood hotties become the new face of two leading international brands - Barbie and Estee Lauder.

There was once a time when international cosmetic brands and designers were afraid to use Indian beauties to endorse their product. Why so? Perhaps the inclination to use Hollywood starlets had a universal appeal? Or maybe because there simply weren’t enough Indian models that had that certain je ne sais quai which designer houses and cosmetic brands alike felt compelled to recruit for their ad campaign? However in recent years things have changed and everyone has gone Bollywood mad! Last year international cosmetics brand MAC launched its first Bollywood range MAC goes India with Indian designer Manish Arora. There are also more Indian models working the catwalk in Milan, Paris and London and of course not to forget Shilpa Shetty winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2007! Lets face it, it is after all her success in the show which increased awareness of the Bollywood film industry in the UK. Keeping herself in the public eye, Shetty successfully launched her own perfume which sold out within the first month and since then has starred in her own theatrical production about Bollywood! What a big change from 10 years ago?!

Anirban Das, CEO of Pinto’s management team is keen not to have her type-casted as a Bollywood starlet which could be one of the factors which Estee Lauder considered when selecting Pinto to endorse the cosmetic brand - “Freida can't be compared to Aishwarya because we're not pitching her as an Indian girl in international films. Freida is a true global face."


And from one of the biggest Bollywood exports to the international film scene, to one of the biggest imports to have graced the Bollywood silver screen from the UK - Katrina Kaif. The super sexy starlet is the new face of Barbie, but she wasn’t the brand’s first or even second choice…

Aishwarya Rai Bachan was eagerly approached by Mattel, the brand behind Barbie, but according to reports the star rejected the request to be immortalised as a Barbie doll due to her professional commitments. Mattel’s second choice was Bollywood newcomer and chocolate girl Genelia D’souza who starrred alongside Amir Khan’s nephew Imran Khan in the 2008 release Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. It is thought her cutesy, youthful qualities appealed to the brand, however D’souza too declined the offer.

Other international celebrities who have lent there look and become the faces of Barbie include Diana Ross, Cher and Beyonce; Katrina Kaif is the first Indian to became a Barbie Doll.

Congratulations are therefore due to both Katrina Kaif and Freida Pinto on landing these two international campaigns. As Brit-Asians we should really be proud of these two Indian beauties, especially Katrina Kaif as she is Brit-Asian herself!

Collect from:brit-asian.com