Terrific in a turban

Jasmine Singh

Amanpreet Singh Virk, Chandigarh-based Sikh model has always admired International Sikh model Waris Ahluwalia, but he wasn’t sure whether back in India, a turbanator could walk the ramp with elan! 

Well, today he is. After opening the show for JJ Valaya at the Amazon India Fashion Week 2017, Amanpreet Virk has no doubt that audiences love a regal look sported by a Sikh model. He, of course, tells us how the audience started hooting and clapping on seeing him walk the ramp that day. “The crew backstage hadn’t expected anything like this, as for me, I didn’t for a minute grasp what was all the cheering and applause all about. Till, of course, I saw the crowd that was really cheering for me,” Amanpreet sounds ecstatic narrating it. 

The blog that started it all 

 This, however, wasn’t the first time he faced a moment like this. Back when Amanpreet was pursuing graduation at Punjabi University, Patiala, he along with a couple of friends started a blog Singh Flash in 2013. This was the time when Instagram was just introduced to the virtual world. “We got a great response, we got work and later our pictures went viral as a result of which, we got modelling assignments.” Amanpreet has walked for 5-6 major fashion events in the last two years and done more than 50-60 still and concept photo shoots. Despite the modelling world taking a fancy for Sikh models, and offering them a respectable space, Amanpreet believes Sikh models also have their limitations. “We have an image to keep. We cannot throw it away in the name of creativity,” shares the young model who declined many concept photo shoots and assignments for the same reason. “I was asked to wear nail paint, ear rings and all that for a concept shoot but I just said no. As a Sikh model, I am open to experimentation in clothes but I cannot go up there and make a clown of myself.”

From modelling to movies, plans galore 

While he still does a lot of shoots, Amanpreet, still does plan to give Punjabi film industry a shot too. He has auditioned for some roles, and we will soon see him on the silver screen. “It feels so nice to see so many Sikh actors and singers who are making the Sikh community proud. There was a time when a Sikh with a turban could not think of entering the entertainment world, now see they have made a mark on the ramp, in films and music world too.”  

jasmine@tribunemail.com