From being a watchman, slum- deweller to becoming models: Modelling is a dream no more for the underprivileged

Remember the blue-eyed internet sensation, Pakistan’s chaiwala, Arshad Khan, who was discovered by photographer Javeria Ali? He grabbed a number of modelling campaigns post his popularity and is still working as a model. Closer home, modelling industry in India, too, is witnessing a colossal shift. Modelling agencies are now scouting and promoting models who come from underprivileged backgrounds. Modelling as a career, is no more a far-fetched dream for a watchman or a security guard, or someone who was born and brought up in a slum. What matters is your confidence, and of course, striking looks. “It doesn’t matter where you come from.There is no reason why a person’s economic background should become a hurdle in his career. We are trying to cast real life faces and the intention is to help these people to lead a life they wouldn’t have imagined otherwise,” says Ninja Singh from Ninjas Model Management. Ninja has spotted and groomed two models, 21-year-old Ankesh Kothari , who worked a security guard with a retail brand, and 18-year-old Arav Nawariya, who lives in a slum in Saket. Both models have shot for leading fashion brands. “I had never thought that I would be able to come this far in modelling. I was working as a security guard for an ATM. Then I got a job as security guard in a retail outlet. My manager put me in touch with modelling agencies,” says Kothari.