MUMBAI: Lin Laishram has carved a niche for herself in the entertainment world.

The Manipuri beauty has won hearts with her onscreen charm and acting chops. She has appeared in films like Om Shanti Om, Mary Kom, Axone, and Rangoon.

The actress has represented North East on a global podium, but her homeland isn’t as welcoming as it should be when it comes to accepting her as any other Indian, be it in reel or real life. The actress said that the North Easterners barely had anything to relate to when it came to Bollywood, with the rare ones badly done by wearing bizarre tribal costumes and talking gibberish. She said to media, “The only person that belonged to the North East was Danny Denzongpa but we couldn’t relate to him either because he spoke fluent Hindi which most of us didn’t. By the time Bollywood discovered us, we had already entered our films on the global platform with Aribam Syam Sharma’s masterpiece Imagi Ningthem winning Golden Montgolfiere at the Festival des 3 continents, Nantes in 1982.”

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Despite having an elevated status given her work in showbiz, Lin Laishram maintains that she’s experienced racism within the industry on several occasions. She said, “One is approached to play stereotypical roles like a spa girl, prostitute or a waiter. Not that playing these characters demeans an actor but it's how we are seen and typecast. Its little knowledge about our culture that bothers us. When it comes to playing an achiever from the Northeast a non-North Eastern person is chosen as seen in Mary Kom. On the other hand, why not cast people from Northeast also as normal Indians in all walks of life which we are.”

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CREDIT: FREEPRESSJOURNAL