Model Sikhs: Tashan turban da

[nanosecond]

Model Sikhs: Tashan turban da

Avinash Kalla

Gurmeet Singh (in the foreground) with his Sikh models: Ready for the challenge

THE spotlight on the dark stage focuses on a young, well-built male model sashaying down the catwalk. His muscular frame draws collective applause from potential buyers, socialites and fashion groupies present on the occasion.

The ecstatic clapping is not for any familiar face on the ramp. Neither is this is a run-of-the mill fashion show at Delhi’s Le Meridien. Nor are the male models run-of-the-mill performers. All the models are young Sikhs out to prove they are as good as, say, John Abraham, Dino Morea, Milind Soman and others dominating the fashion scene.

Dressed in sherwanis and sporting royal turbans, these young Sikhs are making a collective debut into the world of glamour.

Sitting among the audience is 23-year-old Sikh Gurmeet Singh Gill, who is promising to change the face of fashion—-quite literally. Having been himself rejected as a model because he was a Sikh, Gill is now seeking sweet revenge by promoting the ‘first ever’ all-Sikh modeling agency.

For a fee of Rs 25,000 a week, he gives young Sikhs intensive training to groom them as models. This includes body building at the gym, learning the correct way to walk the ramp, the poses to strike when doing ad assignments and also a crash course in acting for TV commercials.

Male Sikh models set the ramp

on fire

Ever since he set up Launchers, Gill’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing but he makes it a point not to take more than a batch of 20 young Sikhs at a time. And there is no dearth of assignments for his unconventional models.

" My rejection became my motivation," says Gurmeet who was shown the door by a top modelling agency a couple of years back. " They told me straight on my face that I could not become a model as I was a Sikh with a beard and a turban. I was asked to cut my hair and then come," recalls Gill.

So distraught was he at being rejected on such superficial grounds that he sought solace in the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, where he got the inspiration. " Something inside me goaded me on to take it up as a challenge and shatter this myth that Sikhs cannot become models."

But he did not want another rejection and first set out to learn the tricks of the trade. Gill took up a small-time job in a modeling agency at Rs 2200 a month. " Earning money was not my goal. I wanted to learn the ropes of modelling and the advertising business. Within a year, I gained insight into various aspects of the industry," says Gill.

His next move took everyone by surprise. He did something that no one had done earlier—-he opened an agency only for Sikhs with the aim of churning out the world’s first turbaned and bearded models.

When he put out an ad for young Sikhs aspiring to be models, the response was beyond his wildest imagination. " The effect was electric. I started getting over a thousand calls a week and my telephone still keeps ringing," he remembers.

His next big task was to find the right trainers and professionals to groom these enthusiastic young Sikhs. He roped in ramp trainer Udayan Rathore, fashion photographer Rahul Dutta, yoga instructor Milan Mandal and a dance group for this purpose.

The first group of 20 Sikhs was taken to a farmhouse in Gurgaon. Their rigorous regimen started at six in the morning when

they were taken to the nearby Hotel Raddison for swimming, yoga and workouts in the gym.

The stint at the health club was followed by rigorous sessions at the farmhouse, where they were taught the nuances of walking the ramp, having the right body language and making eye contact. Besides, dancing classes to make their bodies flexible and visits to Delhi’s leading pubs were thrown in.

"The pub and disco routine was important to inculcate confidence in these young people. After a couple of visits one could see their level of confidence rising," elaborates Gill.

When the training ended, the 20 young men had transformed into a group of confident models ready for any print commercial, television or ramp assignment. The next big challenge was to get the right clients. " I didn’t want these young men to get into any shady modelling assignments. I personally handpicked the clients," he reasons.

The first break came when the models from Launchers set the ramp sizzling at the annual fashion show of the National Institute of Fashion Design. Since then there’s been no looking back. Gill is being approached by ad filmmakers. More recently, three of his models got character roles in producer Vashu Bhagnani’s forthcoming film Out of Control.

" We have so far trained 40 people and 21 have got lucrative assignments. We’re already doing a big BSNL. I’ll also be doing a show in which our models will showcase the creations of leading designers like Sabina Khan, Akki Narula and Amarjot Singh. I am also planning a music video with an all-Sikh cast."

Today, Gill is a man with a mission. "Sikhs must feel proud of their identity and looks and make a mark everywhere—-be it the battlefield, the sports arena or the ramp!"

[S1ngh]

Kool.. first pix is wickid..

but the second pix ain't that cool.. cauz sikh model means with turban.. :e: