Fabienne Menoud, a 26-year-old nurse in Haiti, is a huge Bollywood fan,
who has been following the film industry and its stars ever since she
was 14.
“My love for Bollywood began when I was 14 and my geographic teacher teach us about India and show us Bend It Like Beckham,” she told indianexpress.com.
Well, her fascination has not only led her to watch countless movies, but even learn Hindi and also cover the IIFA 2016 event for a French media company. But things weren’t as smooth as one would expect for such an ardent admirer, who even got the chance to meet a couple of Bollywood stars such as Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.
According to an open letter she wrote after facing racism on several instances, she was discriminated against because of her “ethnicity and color”.
A simple scroll down Menoud’s Facebook wall – peppered with photos of her with several Indian stars and Bollywood news – shows her love for Bollywood, which makes it even more ridiculous that someone like her should go through such experiences.
She wrote, "I am a girl from Haiti and have been a fan of Bollywood since I was 14 years old. I discovered Bollywood through my lessons at school and with the movie Bend it like Beckam. I am now 26 and my passion for Bollywood has only increased with time.
I have at least 100 CDs of Indian movies, several Hindi learning books and some on Indian culture and travelling to India. I also convinced my mother to add three Indian channels in our TV box because of my love for Bollywood movies and Koffee with Karan.
During the media interviews at IIFA, each celeb was in a room were media could interview them for a few moments. Imagine my shock when the bodyguard let everyone enter except me. People behaved strangely all through the event. They would look at me, laugh at me and some kid even tried to kick me.
You should be proud that people like me like your country, your culture, your industry. That we want to meet you to tell you that we love you! Do not look at us in a weird way just because of our skin color.
We are in 2017 and even if you think that only Indians are Bollywood fans, you’re wrong!"
“My love for Bollywood began when I was 14 and my geographic teacher teach us about India and show us Bend It Like Beckham,” she told indianexpress.com.
Well, her fascination has not only led her to watch countless movies, but even learn Hindi and also cover the IIFA 2016 event for a French media company. But things weren’t as smooth as one would expect for such an ardent admirer, who even got the chance to meet a couple of Bollywood stars such as Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.
According to an open letter she wrote after facing racism on several instances, she was discriminated against because of her “ethnicity and color”.
A simple scroll down Menoud’s Facebook wall – peppered with photos of her with several Indian stars and Bollywood news – shows her love for Bollywood, which makes it even more ridiculous that someone like her should go through such experiences.
She wrote, "I am a girl from Haiti and have been a fan of Bollywood since I was 14 years old. I discovered Bollywood through my lessons at school and with the movie Bend it like Beckam. I am now 26 and my passion for Bollywood has only increased with time.
I have at least 100 CDs of Indian movies, several Hindi learning books and some on Indian culture and travelling to India. I also convinced my mother to add three Indian channels in our TV box because of my love for Bollywood movies and Koffee with Karan.
During the media interviews at IIFA, each celeb was in a room were media could interview them for a few moments. Imagine my shock when the bodyguard let everyone enter except me. People behaved strangely all through the event. They would look at me, laugh at me and some kid even tried to kick me.
You should be proud that people like me like your country, your culture, your industry. That we want to meet you to tell you that we love you! Do not look at us in a weird way just because of our skin color.
We are in 2017 and even if you think that only Indians are Bollywood fans, you’re wrong!"
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