West meets east

Casting Coup

Since I have been professionally trained in dancing in London,I knew I would be good at dancing for a song. I was into modelling and a friend recommended me to Dibakar. He called me up to ask if I was game for a song and I jumped at the opportunity because I have always wanted to work with Dibakar. I have loved his past work,especially Oye Lucky,Lucky Oye. I went for a few meetings with his team and I auditioned twice. For my audition,I was asked to dance on Katrina Kaif’s item number Sheila ki jawaani. Later,I got a call that I was selected. To get an opportunity to do an item song is the best thing.

Stepping Stone

I have been professionally trained in singing,dancing and acting at Tiffany Theatre College in London. Since childhood,I was interested in dancing. A few years back,I got an opportunity to come to India for modelling assignments. I acted in a lot of advertisements. I have done a lot of shampoo ads. I was a part of the Milano advertisement with Hrithik Roshan. I have also worked in Asian Paints advertisement with Saif Ali Khan. I didn’t know that I would be an actress one day but I wanted to be a part of the glamour industry. Globally,Bollywood is very famous and I was aware of it. I was lucky to get this opportunity and now I can only think of acting and nothing else. I have even bought a house here since a year, so that I don’t have to keep travelling from London.

First Shot

I was very excited for my first shot. It was a three day shoot at a studio in Andheri East and I had done a three-day rehearsal before that. I would learn the choreography from choreographers Uma and Gaiti on the sets and then I would practise the facial expressions at home. I watched a lot of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s songs,especially,Dola re dola from Devdas,to get my facial expressions right. Since I had done ample homework,I was not nervous on the first day and Dibakar was very happy with my performance. Also,I was very comfortable in the outfit given to me because at the end of the day,it was only a skirt and a top. It was the best experience of my life.

Stumbling Block

Getting the lip sync right was a challenge for me. But I learnt the lyrics of the song a month before we shot it. Every line was translated and given to me in English. Also,Dibakar explained the whole song to me. So I understood the words that I was dancing on. After that,I only had to get my Indian dancing style right. When it comes to dancing to songs here, you have to let yourself go. Since I have been trained in that stiff dancing style for 20 years,it was challenging for me to forget that and completely let myself go. I remember for certain steps,I would become stiff. So the choreographer would ask me to let go of the upright back posture.

Lessons Learnt

The way this industry works is very different from my home in London. It is a fast paced,crazy industry. In the past few years,I have learnt that you need to be very humble here. Moreover,you cannot plan anything here. You just need go with the flow.

Matinee Idols

Obviously,Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is my idol. I also like Vidya Balan. I love the Khans,Ranbir Kapoor is great too.

Future Projects

I have just returned after shooting a song in Hyderabad for a Telugu film,Yevadu starring Amy Jackson and Ram Charan Teja. I am also in talks with directors for acting assignments.