Mumbai: 14-year-old Maleesha Kharwa from Dharavi becomes face of luxury beauty brand; says 'Priyanka Chopra is my inspiration'

Dreams do come true! Maleesha Kharwa, a 14-year-old girl from Mumbai’s Dharavi, has become the face of Forest Essentials, a luxury skincare brand. Recently, Forest Essentials shared a heartening video featuring Kharwa visiting a store displaying her campaign photos, and her expressions say it all.

They captioned the viral video, “Her face lit up with pure delight. To see her dreams in front of her in sight. Maleesha’s story is a beautiful reminder that dreams really do come true.”

Since being shared on April 4, the video has raked up more than 5.6 million views, and the numbers are still counting. Many even flocked to the video’s comments section and left their thoughts.

The new 'Yuvati'

In March 2023, Forest Essentials introduced Kharwa to the world as their new ‘Yuvati’, a collaboration by the brand that carries a greater purpose as it strives to empower underprivileged children through education and help them transform their dreams into realities.

After introducing her as the face of their new campaign, the brand even interviewed her, where she answered 13 questions. Kharwa revealed that Priyanka Chopra is her inspiration and expressed her admiration for Nora Fatehi’s dancing skills.

When dreams become reality

In 2020, Hollywood actor Robert Hoffman met Kharwa and set up a 'Go Fund Me' page to support her dreams. The page highlights her challenges, including a lack of food, water, and proper shelter during the monsoon season.

Kharwa, who aspires to be a supermodel, regularly shares snippets from her life with her 2.3 lakh Instagram followers. She often uses the hashtag #theprincessfromtheslum with her posts.