The 90's Disney animation film, Aladdin won millions of hearts across the globe and further gained popularity with musical shows in Broadway, New York, as well as in the West End, London. However, the live version of the film is raising many eyebrows due to the lack of ethnic actors used in the film, despite the fact that there is a large Asian community living close to the Surrey film set.
The film is being shot in Longcross, which is less than an hour's drive from London. The filmmakers are being criticised for not using more people from ethnic backgrounds even though London is the home of a large community of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, as well as people of Arab heritage.
The original Disney animation movie is set in Agrabah, a fictional location based in Arabia. The genie will be played by the Hollywood superstar, Will Smith. However, the movie, being directed by Guy Ritchie, is receiving flak for introducing a white character, Prince Anders (played by Billy Magnusson), as Aladdin's love rival.
In its defence, a representative of Disney told the Sunday Times, “This is the most diverse cast ever assembled for a Disney live action production. More than 400 of the 500 background performers were Indian, Middle Eastern, African, Mediterranean and Asian.”
32-year-old Kaushal Odedra used to stand-in for a lead actor during the shoot in September 2017, and also worked as an extra on set. He had allegedly seen a queue of 20 “very fair-skinned actors waiting to have their skin tone changed”. He said, “Disney are sending out a message that your skin colour, your identity, your life experiences amount to nothing that cab't be powdered on and washed off. I asked a Saudi cast member what he made of having extras being tanned so heavily and he said it's unfortunate, but this is how the industry works, and there's no point complaining about it since it isn't going to change.”
Bafta-nominated TV director, Riaz Meer, who is also a member of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union's black member's committee, has deemed this to be “an insult to the whole industry”, as well as to young ethnic actors who are trying to get a break in this industry. He said, “The talent exists and is accessible and there's no way that Asian extras could not have been hired to meet the needs of the film. Failing to hire on-screen talent of the right ethnic identity to meet the clear needs of this production is just plain wrong. We expect better from all filmmakers.”
The film is slated to have a May 2019 released and stars British-Indian actress Naomi Scott as Jasmine, Egyptian-born Canadian Mena Massoud as Aladdin, and Tunisian-Dutch actor Marwan Kenzari as Jafar.
