Face Lift

Desai,born to Gujarati parents,grew up in Middlesbrough,North Yorkshire,and was the first Asian to be crowned Miss Britain in 2006. “It made the headlines because I was the first coloured person to be crowned,” gushes the twenty-something. Post the crown came the inevitable calls from Indian directors and producers. “Obviously the best thing for me was to move to India. So I decided to see what India is like and take up modelling in the meanwhile,” says the 5’8” girl,who moved to Mumbai in 2008. “So far I have clocked four seasons of the Lakme Fashion Week,” smiles Desai,in her clipped Brit accent.

This July,Desai will be making her Bollywood debut in Ekta Kapoor’s film Shor,to be directed by Raj Nidimoru and DK Krishna. “It’s odd actually,” smiles Desai,who’s trained as a beauty therapist,“I went to meet the director,was auditioned and was told to report for shooting the next day,” she recalls. Her co-star in the movie is American actor Sendhil Ramamurthy from the popular television series Heroes. “He is great fun to work with. We hit it off well,” she shares.

Fortunately for Desai,her part didn’t require her to speak in Hindi. “My character in the film,Shalmili,speaks in English,which was a blessing. My Hindi is really bad,” she laughs. Desai has now enrolled in Anupam Kher’s acting school to brush up on her acting skills before she starts looking to make inroads in Bollywood. Up next on her itinerary: lessons in Hindi.