Hollywood Whitewashing strikes again, they will cast White actors to play historical Indian and Pakistani people in a movie about the Partition of India and Pakistan.
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
Calgary, Alberta
October 31, 2016 6:45pm CST
I remember Hollywood's excuse for giving Scarlet Johansson a Japanese role is that Hollywood don't have big Japanese stars. I don't think they have excuse for this one because I can name 10 Indian actors visible on the Hollywood scene and 2 of them have box office movies. Hollywood wanted to make a movie about India's independence and they will cast white actors.
There are so many Indian and Pakistani descent stars in Hollywood right now. Yet they decided to get White actors who are not even famous nor relevant. So they can't have the Scarlet Johansson excuse on this one.
Ben Kingsley Playing Ghandi back in 1992 is at least acceptable because he is Half Indian.
They could have easily casted Dev patel, Suraj Sharma, Naveen Andrews, Avan Jogia, Kal Penn and heck they can even consider Zayn Malik if it's mainstream appeal they wanted.
The director want Benedict Cumberbatch who is Caucasian to play Ghandi.
The movie is about the Split of Pakistan and India.
the faces of india? The film, SoIar EcIipse - Depth of Darkness, has a Dutch director and is said to be "an upcoming Hollywood feature historic film based on the world politics immediately after Indian independence and partition. It is set in a violent Ind
6 people like this
10 responses
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
1 Nov 16
I have to agree with you. No excuse for casting Cumberbatch when names like Dev Patel are quite well know. Plus there are major Bollywood actors they could cast and that would be great for box office in the India market.
2 people like this
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
I think Hollywood still do these controversial choices because they Saw Tom Cruise's edge of tomorrow did well in box office even though he is playing a Japanese role. Now people are getting more aware though since multiple whitewash movies are box office flops.
1 person likes this
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
@JohnRoberts and they were going to do this to a based on a true story historical event.
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
1 Nov 16
@CaptAlbertWhisker Few movies are star driven these days. Just for the sake of realism, I want proper casting. Hollywood acts so incredibly liberal in politics yet practices racism, ageism and discriminates toward women. Hypocritical Hollywood.
1 person likes this
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
Just imagine how racist it would look once they fake tanned these white actors to make them look South Asian.
1 person likes this
@much2say (56088)
• Los Angeles, California
6 Nov 16
@CaptAlbertWhisker I never realized he was half until you said so - hey, no wonder he could even look the part too, right? Oh the fake tan - sorry but there's no foolin' us.
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
10 Nov 16
@much2say Something I realized, Most Hollywood people are self proclaimed democrat.... If they were all about diversity why White people kept on playing Asian roles.
1 person likes this
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
3 Nov 16
Ben Kingley is Indian so him playing Ghandi is no issue. The other guys on the other hand would be white guys with fake tan.With the controversies of whitewashing, Hollywood still dont care with the backlash.
1 person likes this
@Letranknight2015 (52079)
• Philippines
1 Nov 16
Well, not sure if I'm going to watch it. well, they think it's an American movie and the white person should portray it, or is it because of the salary issues?
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
I think the producers where just racist against Indian actors and they think they dont draw.
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
@Letranknight2015 The irony of this movie being about Indian Independence from Britain and they used British actors to play Indians.. Its like Hollywood making a movie about Jose Rizal with Spanish Actor Antonio Banderas playing the role.
@Letranknight2015 (52079)
• Philippines
1 Nov 16
@CaptAlbertWhisker if thats the case then don't expect me to watch it.
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
7 Nov 16
Most producers thinks they were more marketable. So Asian roles are given to White actors.
@James96 (40)
• India
23 May 17
Oh boy!!I could understand if this happened a decade or two back..But now???India has serious talent and they put Benedict Cumberbatch as Gandhi??????WTF Hollywood??U haven't learnt enough from GITS,Dragon Ball Evolution(Well,even a good cast couldn't have saved that train wreck of a film..But u get the point)??
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
23 May 17
there are so many Indian actors, Indian British actors and Indian American actors who works at Hollywood and got mainstream popularity. So they can't use the Scarlet Johannson excuse on this one.
I think there are so many Indian actors in Hollywood right now that even people who dont watch Bollywood can at least name 5.
I can name more than 12
Dev Patel, Sendhil Ramamurthy' Shuraj Sharma, Avan Jogia, Asis Ansari,Rahul Kohli,Kal Penn,Kunal Nayyar, Priyanka Chopra, Freida Pinto, Naomi Scott,Mindy Kaling,Hannah Simone
@James96 (40)
• India
23 May 17
@CaptAlbertWhisker Even for GITS,they could have cast Rinko Kikuchi...She might not be famous than ScarJo,but she felt apt for the role...And considering the movie was a weird mish-mash of the anime and the movie itself,with some changes to accommodate the white-washing..If she had been cast,the movie would have been more concerned with bringing the source material to life than having to make an excuse in movie about having an English actor in Japan.
I'd like to add Irrfan Khan to that list of Indian actors achieving success in Hollywood..He's damn talented!!
1 person likes this
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
Things like this makes me wish Canada will develop their own movie industry and compete against Hollywood.
@jstory07 (139980)
• Roseburg, Oregon
1 Nov 16
Maybe they did it to save money by not hiring know actors that will cost them more money.
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
Indian actors are cheaper than White actors when it comes to talent fee so it is not an excuse. They still have this mindset Asians dont draw and people only want to watch white actors.
1 person likes this
@ourlot (982)
•
1 Nov 16
Why they chose this way is puzzling to me. I suppose the box-office will punish them. The times when such a behavior was normal are long over. Nowadays, you find any racial profile that you want. There are actors of all color and origins. They should give others a chance.
@CaptAlbertWhisker (32746)
• Calgary, Alberta
1 Nov 16
I can imagine the brownface make up and fake tan they will give these guys to make them look Indian. Most likely they will fake Indian accent too. Quantico's lead star is Indian and the show have good ratings on tv. So American audiences is actually open to Indian stars.
1 person likes this