Foreign Affairs

Ferena Wazeir
Rang Rasiya
Raised in the beautiful environs of Scotland,Wazeir is now set for Bollywood through Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya. “I came here during my Christmas holidays and got a lot of offers for magazine shoots that made me want to keep coming back,” says the chiseled beauty who plays a journalist in Mehta’s film. That’s not all,Wazier was brought up speaking Dogri and Urdu and has bagged the lead role in Sadiyaan opposite Luv Sinha,and a movie each with Soni Razdan and Tanuja Chandra. “Bollywood is crazy,escapist,emotional and funny. It is a great place to live albeit it can get a little overwhelming at times.”

Jacqueline Fernandes
Aladin
From being a political journalist in Sri Lanka to an actor in India,it’s been a journey well traversed. It was the title of Miss Sri Lanka that transformed Fernandes’ life forever. “I came to India on a modeling assignment and landed the role of Jasmine in Aladin,” she proudly states. But success comes only with hard work. “I took Hindi lessons and joined Kathak classes,” she smiles. But it has paid off because she has also completed her second assignment Jaane Kahan se Aayi Hai. “The best thing about Bollywood is that it gives everybody a chance,” she says as she reiterates the fact that she is here to stay.

Saira Mohan
Teen Patti
The screen’s temperature ought to go up several notches when the sultry model of Indian,Irish and French heritage shares screen space with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan in Teen Patti. “I was invited by the producer to do this role which is very pivotal to the film,” says Mohan. The 31-year-old model who has appeared on most top-notch magazine covers like the Newsweek and L’Officiel,waited a while before she got her big break in Bollywood. “I did study film and television at New York University back in the 90s. Acting,in many ways is a natural progression from being in front of fashion cameras.”

Lekha Washington
Peter Gaya Kaam Se
With a name like that,most people would be confused about her identity. “I have a mixed identity,” says Washington,whose father is part Italian and part Burmese and mother,a Maharashtrian. Hailing from a completely non-filmi background not many people gave her a chance in Bollywood. “I started off being behind the camera,before I went on to become a VJ and then host the first season of IPL. I then landed up a role in Peter Gaya Kaam Se,” she says. “My role in my first film is the best I could have asked for. I get to dance,do action sequences and also deliver emotional dialogues.”