While Hollywood is becoming more inclusive, a lot is yet to be done as far as authentic representation of people of colour is concerned in the West, feels actor Suraj Sharma. “We have a long way to go. I feel that authentic representation of colour is missing in Hollywood,” Sharma says.

He adds, “In terms of the industry [in the West], there are lots of exceptionally talented actors. The problem is that more people of colour need to be behind the screen, in decision-making places, because at the end of the day, an actor acts on the basis of the script and the script is controlled by the writer or producer. If people of colour take to such roles, the stories being told will become truer.”

Sharma, 28, made his Hollywood debut with the Oscar-winning film, Life Of Pi (2012), following it up with Million Dollar Arm (2014), Homeland and now a series, How I Met Your Father. The actor feels that true reflection on screen is more important than tokenism.

He shares an example of his show that’s a spinoff of How I Met Your Mother: “The diversity is a huge positive for the show, as they try to portray New York in a realistic manner. And that can’t happen without showing how the world is. Tokenism is not always the best thing. In this case, it doesn’t feel like tokenism. It feels like true characters that deserve and rightfully live in this story.”