The Radiant Cleo Isaacs
(for the full article and multimedia experience, click here: OM-Times August 2009 Edition)
Bollywood sensation Cleo Isaacs is and actress, singer and supermodel in India. Best known for her sultry and exotic looks, Cleo grew up in England to parents of Indian and Middle Eastern descent.
Cleo’s incredible adventure began when she was spotted by a modeling scout one afternoon while shopping in Manchester. She signed with a local agency and her career ignited in the fashion word. She graced the runway in many couture fashion shows in the UK and was a guest on TV talk shows hosted by Claudia Winkleman and Russell Grant.
Realizing her destiny, Cleo knew that the confines of a regular job would never satisfy her hunger for discovery so she left university to pursue modeling full-time. She wanted to travel the world, broaden her horizons and search for an answer to her eternal question: what was missing within. Totally inspired, the lure of her Indian roots beckoned and Cleo set off on a journey of self-discovery to India. At first, it was a huge culture shock seeing the sights of the local street children which always caused her great despair. Then, she connected with a part of herself she had never known and for the first time in her life, she felt at home. Cleo soon found the will to give back to society whenever she had the chance and still does.
Cleo soon echoed the great success she had found in the UK, and was gracing the covers of top magazines and featured in many music videos. The Mumbai glitterati loved her and photographed her at many celebrity affairs and followed her every move. She became the celebrity darling of The Times of India and her social success was matched only by her the rise of her professional star.
Her impressive portfolio of commercials includes work for international brands such as Wrigley’s Chewing Gum, Colgate Toothpaste, Levi Jeans and Diet Coke. Her career exploded and she set the catwalk ablaze alongside other top supermodels for couture designers such as Manish Malhotra, Rohit Bal, JJ Vallaya, Rocky S and Sumeet Chopra. Cleo has been the cover girl for many top magazines including “Femina”, which featured her twice and she also participated as a judge for them in the semi-finals of the Miss India 2003 Pageant.
Bombarded with Bollywood offers, Cleo declined most of them and film magazine Cineblitz wrote she was the first person in Bollywood history to be written about in Bollywood film magazines without ever having appeared in single film. Then, Romu Sippy, the producer of the blockbuster “Satte pe Satta”, launched her acting career in the suspense thriller ‘Who’, in which she played the role of Sonali, opposite Priyanshu Chatterjee. Then, producer, director and screenplay writer Prakash Jha’s cast her in “Apaharan, starring Ajay Devgan and Nana Patekar.
