Who is Nidhi Sunil, the Kerala-born model making heads turn at Cannes Film Festival?

Nidhi Sunil is a lawyer-turned-model who's commanding quite a bit of attention at the ongoing 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival red carpet. Born in Kochi in Kerala, this 33-year-old actress and activist attended the premiere of the film 'All Went Well' at the prestigious event this year.

Nidhi Sunil poses as she arrives for the screening of the film "Tout s'est Bien Passe" (Everything Went Fine) at the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on July 7, 2021.

Sunil, a former environmental attorney who grew up in Bengaluru and is now based in New York, was recently named L'Oreal's newest global ambassador. She's also a part of the Invisible Girl Project, an organisation aiming to end female gendercide in India.

Her parents are doctors in Bengaluru and Sunil studied law in Symbiosis Law College in Pune. But she gave up practicing law even though she's armed with a solid degree to pursue her career in the modelling and acting.

Sunil is an ardent advocate of ending prejudices against dark skin in India. In a powerful essay in 2019, Sunil wrote: "As a young teen growing up in India it was sort of a foregone conclusion that if you were fairer you were prettier. I was a sports kid growing up and my schedule involved training as a swimmer for five hours a day, six days a week. I was a very tanned dark kid. My mum, who was very dark-skinned, much darker than me, constantly drummed into me that I was beautiful. It must have worked because if I had just my high school teenage experiences for context I would definitely have a complex about my skin. But, as I mentioned, my nickname in high school was Kaalia the crow."

This feisty model and actress is outspoken about how her dark skin has been constantly trolled on social media. She has also faced discrimination based on her skin colour during her modeling days. In an interview with the fashion magazine Vogue she said: "So they weren't sure what they could do with me—that really stuck with me. I was asked to get rid of my freckles because your skin is supposed to be completely clear, otherwise it's not "beautiful". A lot of people aren't as blatant though. When you go for casting, they won't tell you on your face that you're dark and that's why they're not hiring you, but that has happened. Now in Bombay, when I get a call for an ad commercial, I tell them to not approach me if they want a fair girl at the end of the day. A lot of times I've encountered directors who want to work with me but their clients don't want to; they don't think a dusky girl will work for them."

While she has been spotted patronising Indian designers on the Cannes red carpet, she's also a big advocate of promoting local artisans in India. In 2020, she partnered with a giant fashion magazine to help Indian artisans with their livelihoods and to preserve their skills and craft.

Nidhi Sunil loves to take risks in her life. In 2018, she left Mumbai although she had regularly begun getting assignments and modelling contracts to pursue a new life in New York. Even though she didn't know anyone in the West, she was keen to diversify her portfolio by working in New York. It paid off as she soon began modelling for well-known fashion brands such as Espirit.

Nidhi Sunil isn't happy just conquering the world of modelling. Even though she is the first Indian model to have been signed on by a French cosmetic giant L'Oreal, she's eager to try her hand at acting. In her film 'Kaash', she's up against talents including Kalki Koechlin and this film has travelled at various film festivals.