All set to take films by storm

After her success in the music video Janam Samjha Karo, Helen Brodie became a household name. And then followed a series of advertisements — Brylcreem, Lakme, Bauche and Lomb… the list is endless.“It was just when I landed in Bombay that I got all these assignments at the same time. And the best part was that all the ads were released almost simultaneously. So I suddenly had this flood of publicity and it was kind of lucky for me,” says Helen.

Ask her about the Indian and the international fashion cene, the half-Scottish, half-Indian model says “Indian fashion is not following a particular direction. Indian outfits tend to get influenced by festivals and designers don’t generally play with colours. They stick to all time favourites like shades of red and brown. Western designers, on the other hand, really experiment with colours in a big way.”

After successfully making a dent in the fashion scene, this Capricorn girl, who once aspired to study criminal psychology, is all set to join films. Already through with her first movie Monsoon, Helen is considering “a few good offers”. “Monsoon is all about a Portugese sailor who falls in love with a local Goan girl. I play the lead role, that of a simple Goan girl, along with Richard Tyson against the backdrop of a Goan setting,” explains Helen.

Ask her why all top models prefer to join the movies, Helen says,“a career in modelling is short…if you really maintain yourself then you would probably last for 10-odd years. Its a place where you get in, reach the top and immediately diversify to other fields before you’re down. Because once you’re down, you’re out, well almost.”

Recalling some of the difficult times she faced on the ramp, Helen says,“this was a show I was doing for Tarun Tahilani. He had designed an outfit which had a shoulderless top pinned behind my back. I was supposed to go three times down the ramp. The first time I went, the top slid down a wee bit. The next time it slid a little more and I was so sure its going to come off that I refused to go down the ramp the third time. So I simply stood there smiling after stricking a pose.”

So what does she fancy for eating? “I really love all that you get by the roadside — from chaat to pani puri — everything. Dosas too. In fact everything Indian.

And her favourite movies? “ I loved Satte Pe Satta and Prem Rog. Kamal Hassan was really good in Sadma.” Her favourite actor and actress? “I find Dimple Kapadia ravishing. Among the actors Jackie Shroff is good.”

“I like keeping to myself. I am a person who talks only when it is required. I hate it when people form opinions too fast. It’s not fair that people expect models to be nice all the time. They should realise that we too are humans, we too have our ups and downs,” she says.