My advice to a Ugandan Girl who wants to become a Bollywood actress.

Yes, it’s possible.

But what are the odds? Not in your favor.

Bollywood is not very kind to dark-skinned actresses. I assume, being a Ugandan, you are dark-skinned. If you are fair-skinned, let's assess your chances further.

Bollywood is a highly nepotistic industry. Who are the top Bollywood actresses today? Alia Bhatt, Jhanvi Kapoor, Sara Khan, Pandey, etc. All are related to someone from the film industry in some way. These actresses have the first claim over leading roles in Bollywood. And it’s the same with the other movie and TV industries.

India is a country of 1.3 billion people. If you have a Bollywood ambition, so do millions of Indian women living in India and overseas. 1000s flock to Mumbai every day to become Bollywood actresses.

If you somehow get past the nephews-nieces-kids of Bollywood actors, you have to contend with these women. They know Hindi, Indian dance, look more Indian than you. They are Indian. Out of millions, only 1 or 2 outsiders get the opportunity to act as a leading actress in a Bollywood movie that too in offbeat — low budget movies, not the mainstream Karan Johar — Yash Chopra multi starers.

What happens to the rest? If they are lucky, they move to act for TV productions where the chances of success are slightly better, but it can be any role, not necessarily a leading one. A lot become high profile escorts, B grade Bollywood actresses ( like soft porn), some spend their life as extras, and the rest live with depression for years and eventually kill themselves. It’s sad, but it is true.

Not everyone can have the same luck as Katrina Kaif. What are the chances you will end up with a Bollywood superstar boyfriend within two months of landing in Mumbai?

Being the outsider, you are more susceptible to exploitation. You will be promised roles in return for sex, but you will never get them. You will be summoned for auditions at odd hours and told to bring a bikini with you because the role requires you to wear a bikini, and the director wants to see how you look in a bikini. You get the picture.

You don’t have family in India and are an easy target with no protection and backing from anyone. Even the police don’t take such people seriously.

Read about the MeToo allegations to see how women seeking work in Bollywood suffer exploitation.

Last but not least, there is racism in India too. Africans are not always treated with the same respect and dignity as white-skinned Europeans are.And this is not the story of just Bollywood- it’s the story of the entire entertainment industry in India.

But, that does not mean you have to drop the idea entirely. You can smartly continue pursuing your dream.

A good way to start would be to create a portfolio and submit it to an agent in India from Uganda itself. Let him circulate it around and gather some feedback.

But the best way would be to create a YouTube channel and upload some videos of yourself dancing on Bollywood songs, acting out Bollywood scenes, stuff like that. More than half of India is on YouTube-Indians love this sort of stuff. Spend a little money on google ads and promote the videos in India. Connect directly with the people of India. You might become famous and be offered roles in India, or you might get so popular on YouTube, and the money from it might be so generous that you might not even think about Bollywood anymore.

It’s better than arriving in India and struggling to get a break. That will not work, especially in these Covid-19 times.

Do it the new school way, not the old school way.