THE topknot has given way to a dishevelled mane, the black gown has been replaced by the familiar checked school uniform with tie—and boots. As 18-year-old Deepal Shah gets into her ‘I’m like Beyonce, no?’ act in a cramped, 4ft by 6ft space at Zaha, the nightspot at The Leela in Mumbai, the crowd erupts. ‘‘Asliyat! (Reality)’’ yells a sozzled Karan Seth, a 56-year-old businessman. ‘‘Look at her go!’’ Flashbulbs spark and about 20 mobile cameras jostle for space to capture Shah’s gyrations. Even the barmen have suspended work to gape at Shah as every turn, thrust, hip-shake and jerk of the mane invites louder roars from the crowd. When we caught up with Shah earlier in the hotel’s Bloomeria suite, the attractive teenager was nursing a glass of orange juice and looking rather sober as she got ready for her promotional performance. ‘‘I am here to create a sensation. I am here to break the myth that a beautiful body can only talk sex. I am sexy, I have a great body and I can act,’’ she said confidently. Shah is studying psychology through correspondence at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and wants to be a film star. ‘‘Psychology is a difficult subject,’’ she said. So in between performances (one more is lined up at downtown nightclub Athena), she takes a crack at her books. When reminded of an earlier interview where she told a film magazine that she wouldn’t do anything to upset her family, she retorted, ‘‘Yes, mum was a little upset with the clothes I wore in the Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar video, but I explained that it’s a struggle to get where I want. But the clothes weren’t that revealing, were they?’’ Raunchy video to film is a common enough routine. But she thinks not everyone can make it. ‘‘There have been about three remixes of this song; mine is the hottest,’’ she scoffed. So hot that Shah was featured in a rain dance sequence on Sony TV’s Yeh Meri Life Hai as Baby Doll. Next up is an episode of Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi. Shefali Zariwala, the original doll, does an item number in David Dhawan’s forthcoming Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, but Shah has a whole film to herself; a lead role in close friend Hriday Shetty’s film Daag-Shades of Love, starring Ashmit Patel. There are other projects too, including a music video to be shot in New York. ‘‘Beyonce is going to feature in the video. I play the main person,’’ she clarified. Did we say she’s like Beyonce? Apparently not. The crowd shouts for more even as a couple of 40-something housewives shush their raucous husbands. And as for those who didn’t get a good enough view, there’s an encore to bloodcurdlingly appreciative whistles. Then there is the miffed girlfriend trying to restrain her eager boyfriend from making his way to the stage where Shah is making her moves. ‘‘I think it’s cheap, but my boyfriend seems to be having a good time,’’ she sighs. A group of 20-somethings, all male, are having a good time too. ‘‘She’s hot alright,’’ says 21-year-old Alok, a regular at Zaha. Throughout, Shah’s agent winks at all and sundry, saying, ‘‘I told you, everyone’s going to go wild. She is fabulous, no?’’ Sweat pouring down her forehead and school uniform totally drenched, a fiery Shah punches the air one last time and bows. ‘‘They got their money’s worth, I think.’’
