You girls want to join the Green Army? We have women from across the world, but no Indians... This was Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who played host to 20 Indian models recently and won them over with his wit and charm.
With India blossoming as a beauty hub, and the Colonel's taste for haute coture, it was no surprise that the Libyan information and broadcasting ministry expressed the desire to host a fashion show featuring top Indian models as part of its National Day celebrations.
Matrix Entertainment was approached in Dubai to put together the show, to be telecast on Libyan TV. The diktat was simple: We select the outfits, we audition the models. For Reshma Shetty, director, Matrix, this was routine. ''I had been to Libya before with Priyanka Chopra and knew its style. Some girls were worried, but I told them it is safer than most parts of our country!''
A team came to India for clearances and, on a whim, picked up a three-piece ensemble for Gaddafi a jamavar Rajkot antique-finish kurta with a churidar. Gaddafi, a lover of Indian clothes, took such a fancy to it that he called for another. This time, the Sheetal team put together an Indo-Western creation an off-white bandhgala.
Gaddafi, though, gave the show a miss it was attended instead by a select audience, including his wife and Indian ambassador to Libya A Ramesh. But he made up later by granting a private audience to the girls. ''It was slightly frightening,'' says Lara Dutta, ''We were taken down to the bunkers. With his gun-toting woman bodyguards, Gaddafi is quite a sight. But not for a minute did he come across as the dictator I was expecting.'' Lara, in fact, became quite a favourite with the Colonel, simply because she chose to wear an Indian outfit.
''I really like Indian clothes,'' Gaddafi told the girls, ''I have great respect for people who take pride in their national outfit. I admire your PM for wearing the dhoti even when he travels abroad.'' And with the audience comprising the likes of Yana Gupta, Katrina Kaif, Tapur Chatterjee, Aditi Govitrikar and Neha Dhupia, what was meant to be a 15-minute interface turned into a two-hour tete-e-tete.
''We were spoilt rotten,'' gushes Sushma Reddy, ''A few girls were scared, but I was gung-ho. Gaddafi turned out to be very charming, polite and patient.'' Not only did Gaddafi sign individual copies of the Green Book, which details his model for the government, he also called for made-to-order Gaddafi wristwatches, which 20 slim Indian wrists will flash in the days to come!
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