Hazel Crowney, also spelt as Hazel Croney, is a British model and film actress who has appeared in many ad campaigns and some

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films.

Early life

Crowney was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom, to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

parents Karin and Phil Crowney. she has two younger sisters (one named Robyn). Crowney grew up in

Grosvenor Park, Chester Grosvenor Park is a public park in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England (). It consists of of land overlooking the River Dee. It is regarded as one of the finest and most complete examples of Victorian parks in the North West of England, i ...

, England; she completed her schooling at Bennett Memorial School in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

, and later studied fashion and textiles at

West Kent College K College, was also known as South & West Kent College, was an English college of Further education, Further Education and Higher Education with facilities across Kent, formed in April 2010, by the merger of South Kent College with West Kent C ...

Career

Crowney's entry into

came by chance in 2004 when she was backpacking in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and stumbled upon an Indian film being shot there. So it came that her first appearance in a Bollywood film was in the item song "''Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar''". She was an

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

in the film ''

Janasheen ''Janasheen'' (transl. ''Heir'') is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language romantic action thriller film co-written, edited, produced and directed by Feroz Khan who stars along with his son, Fardeen Khan, and Celina Jaitly. It was partly shot in Afghanis ...

''. With little prior knowledge of the sub-continent, she was attracted by the music and dance, and decided to try her luck in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. She went on to do advertisements for

Pond's Pond's is an American brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever. History Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

and

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

before landing her first proper role in the film '' MP3: Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar'' in 2007. She also worked in shows, for which she was highly paid. In 2010, Crowney along with other non-Indian actresses such as

Alice Patten Alice Patten is an English actress, and the daughter of Chris Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, a prominent British Conservative politician and the last Governor of Hong Kong. She has played a key role in the Bollywood film ''Rang De Basanti'' ( ...

were asked to leave Bollywood by

Raj Thackeray Raj Shrikant Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ ʈʰaːkɾeː born Swaraj Shrikant Thackeray; 14 June 1968) is an Indian politician and the founding chairperson of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a regional political party. Raj wa ...

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (translation: Maharashtra Reformation Army; MNS) is a Regionalist far-right Indian political party based in the state of Maharashtra and operates on the ideology of "Hindutva" and "Marathi" Manus. It was founded ...

(MNS), a Mumbai-based political party. They campaigned for a ban on the estimated 1,000 British and other foreign actors who regularly appear in Bollywood films accusing them of stealing jobs from local girls. Crowney is performed in an item song named 'Reshma Ki Jawani' for the film ''Kaash Tum Hote'' which was released in 2014. She also appeared in an item song in the Telugu action-drama '' Shankara'', which was released in 2016.Hazel Crowney grooves to item song in 'Shankara'
Published: 9 October 2013, ''The New Indian Express''

Filmography

Films

Television appearances

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowney, Hazel Living people Actresses from London English film actresses English female models English expatriates in India Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Marathi cinema British expatriate actresses in India European actresses in India Actresses of European descent in Indian films 21st-century English actresses 21st-century British actresses Year of birth missing (living people)