Hyderabad: Maleesha Kharwa, a 15-year-old model from Dharavi slums, has been making headlines while her dreams come true. The school-going girl became the face of ‘The Yuvati Collection’, a new campaign by the luxury brand ‘Forest Essentials’.
The teen who calls herself ‘the princess from the slums’, has received multiple model gigs for her natural look and bubbly personality.
Maleesha was discovered by Hollywood actor Robert Hoffman, in 2020, who set up a ‘go fund me’ page for the girl. Today, the slum princess has over 250k followers on Instagram. She has done multiple modelling gigs and even features in a short-film.
In April, the brand made the announcement on Instagram with a heart-warming video of hers. It was a reaction video of Maleesha, where she is seen entering the brand’s store with her face on the posters in display.
“Her face lit up with pure delight, to see her dreams in front of her in sight. Maleesha’s story is a beautiful reminder that dreams really do come true,” read the caption on the post.
The video soon took the internet by storm and received more than 6 million views and about 406,000 likes. Her story received lots of love from social media users.
“Very happy to know she goes to school, and here’s hoping she will continue that. Education is indeed mandatory,” wrote a user.
“Wow. So much positivity in here. Also her smile is beautiful,” said another user.
A third user wrote, “We are fed up to see Bollywood celebs on every cover. To see something new like this delights us and attracts customers.”
“So happy to see this , and applause fr the brand.. in our country dusky girls were never considered to promote beauty brands, nw time has changed… she’s so beautiful,” noted a fourth.
Maleesha has already bagged two Hollywood movie offers. She has also been featured in a short-film, ‘Live your Fairytale’ by Arsala Qureishi and Jas Sagu.