Ramp's dumb dudes

At 6'2", Prashant Ranyal towers over the designers he models for, but intellectually, he can charitably be described as a pygmy. Ask him to name the Home Minister, and he'll tell you with confidence: Yashwant Sinha.

At 6'2", Prashant Ranyal towers over the designers he models for, but intellectually, he can charitably be described as a pygmy. Ask him to name the Home Minister, and he'll tell you with confidence: Yashwant Sinha. Ask him to name a designer, and he breaks into a sweat.

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The 24-year-old B.A. (Pass) graduate from Haridwar has only worn "local stuff" but has pursued modelling with singular devotion.

And it has paid off. When the Fashion Week wraps up on May 3, he'll take home a cheque of Rs 70,000 for a week of hard work and harder partying.

The airhead Derek Zoolander, in Hollywood's hilarious take on the modelling world, is no figment of imagination. There are many Zoolanders crowding the LIFW green rooms. But dumb dudes are hot properties on the ramp.

Kapil Khadiwala is a Business Administration graduate from Indore who insists on talking in Hindi. He's never read a newspaper. He refused to accept he's dumb.

Nitin Singh, a Bulandshahr boy and son of an Army civil engineer, is another example. After completing his law studies at Symbiosis, Pune, Singh went on to win the Gladrags Manhunt 2002 title. It was FTV that stoked his desire to become a ramp-walker. "Modelling is a good thing. It makes you fit," he said.

Their brains may be in their muscles. But if you were paid Rs 70,000 for a week of limelight, would you be complaining?