New Delhi: 14-year-old Malisha Kharwa, a resident of Mumbai’s Dharavi slum, has become the face of luxury beauty brand Forest Essentials’ new campaign, “The Yuvati Collection.” Malisha was discovered in 2020 by Hollywood actor Robert Hoffman in Mumbai, who later set up a GoFundMe page for the girl. Malisha has over 225,000 followers on her Instagram account. She often includes the hashtag #princessfromtheslum in her posts. In recent years, she has done several modeling gigs and has also worked in a short film titled “Live Your Fairytale.” Now, she is seen as the face of Forest Essentials’ new campaign, “The Yuvati Collection,” which is a social initiative aimed at empowering young minds. The campaign’s goal is to “empower young minds.”
In April, the brand shared a video on Instagram featuring Malisha entering their store with images of their campaign. Forest Essentials captioned it as, “Her face lit up with joy, seeing her dreams right in front of her. Malisha’s story is a beautiful reminder that dreams do come true. #BecauseYourDreamsMatter.” The video quickly went viral on the internet and was viewed by over 5 million people, with over 400,000 likes. One user commented, “It’s amazing to see her achieving success! Blessings to her, and congratulations for many more successes in the future!” Another user wrote, “I’m so happy to see this and applaud the brand. Dark-skinned girls were never chosen to promote beauty brands in our country, but times have changed. She is very beautiful.”
A third user commented, “Wow. So much positivity here. And her smile is beautiful too.” A fourth user wrote, “Now, this is a face that everyone can relate to, a significant change. Meanwhile, in an interview with Vogue India, Meera Kulkarni, the founder and CEO of Forest Essentials, said, “Through our Yuvati Collection, we are not only supporting Malisha’s dreams but also contributing to the Project Pathshala, which aims to empower young minds.”
