Bollywood star Lucinda Nicholas denies she’s taking part in cultural appropriation

Australian beauty queen and Bollywood star Lucinda Nicholas has spoken candidly about her successful career in a chat with Daily Mail Australia. 

The 28-year-old, who has just been named an ambassador for Nontre.co, reflected on her success at such a young age and her career aspirations. 

Lucinda, who hails from Adelaide, also spoke about her comments last month that she changes her appearance to ‘look more Indian,’ saying that it’s not cultural appropriation. 

Lucinda iterated the fact that she changes her looks if a client is ‘requesting’ that of her, rather than it being a personal decision.  

‘Basically there was a couple of shoots where I wore brown contacts, it wasn’t necessarily a set culture, it was just because they wanted a different look so that can happen anywhere really,’ she explained. 

‘And in terms of the roles I played, I was in a UK film, a Bollywood film shot in the UK and an English character and in terms of roles with acting or modelling, it’s just what the client is requesting, whether that mean a change or hair colour or eye colour.’

Last month, the former Miss World South Australia told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Sometimes I would wear brown contact lenses to make me look more Indian, I guess you could say.’ 

Lucinda is of Middle Eastern and European heritage and has played characters with English, South Indian and Austrian backgrounds. 

‘A lot of foreigners become successful [in Bollywood] by really taking on the language and Indian culture,’ she told the publication at the time.

She added: ‘People think [India] is so different to Australia, but once you live there and you’re a part of the culture you realise how similar we all are as humans no matter what race or religion.’

Lucinda has appeared in several Bollywood films, including Guest in London, and even speaks Hindi and lived in Mumbai for years. 

While speaking to Daily Mail Australia last week, Lucinda spoke about her career and said she first got into Bollywood after winning Miss World South Australia and hosting the Miss India Australia pageant many years ago. 

‘I met a lot of people in the industry and saw how amazing the culture is with their dancing and things, and it opened my eyes up to the culture and there was so much I loved about it,’ she said. 

She said she started doing modelling jobs, dancing jobs and commercials and soon discovered a love of acting and decided to take it ‘more seriously.’

The stunner just moved back to Adelaide, Australia, after living overseas and just before the pandemic hit, she was studying at the New York film Academy at the Los Angeles campus.

Lucinda said she loves that cinema is a ‘global industry’ and said she is ‘open’ to any opportunities that come her way, whether that be in Bollywood, Hollywood or the Australian film industry.    

She said as for Australian stars, she’s always looked up to the likes of Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett, who have ‘paved their way in Hollywood.’  

‘I also think the idol or person you want to be is you and yourself in ten years, so you never really get to that point and you keep working towards it and aspiring to be a better version of yourself and pushing yourself to achieve more,’ she said.   

Lucinda has just been named as an ambassador for earth-wise luxury products Nontre.co, which include household cleaning products and body products including hand cream. 

Lucinda said their range is ‘amazing’ and said she loves the body milk and scrub. 

‘The products are amazing and smell incredible and it’s Australian made,’ she said. 

As for her own beauty secrets and tips and tricks, the brunette beauty said she always takes off her makeup at night and eats a healthy diet and drinks 3-4 litres of water a day.      

‘I try and stick to a raw diet, a lot of fruit and vegetables,’ Lucinda said 

She added: ‘Once I stick to that, that reflects into my skin. As soon as I’m eating bad, I can tell straight away.’