Another star child makes her debut!Raj Babbar's daughter Juhi appears on stage as a Roman princess in mother Nadira Babbar's in-house Ekjute production Yehudi Ki Ladki.So, Juhi wants to be an actress as well?Since she was all of two. When she first started to crawl, it was around NSD graduates like Satish Kaushik, Rajesh Puri and Raja Bundela.And by seven she was acting."Call it anything but acting. The play was Chandanpur ki Champa bai, and all I did was stay in Kiron masi's (Kiron Kher) arms." In her school days, Juhi preferred to direct. "That's the only way I could boss others around."After that there was a long hiatus."When Kajol and Karishma were introduced, my parents closed all doors for me. Studies were to be given precedence." So she went to Mithibai College, which she says wasn't an exciting experience. Then her love for garments had her sewn to National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) for three years.In '98, she had her own fashionshow called `Swarnadhara'."I used khadi and gold tissue for the outfits. The bottoms were in earthy shades and the uppers in gold." Then she took a long holiday and visited all her friends in Simla and Dehradun.After which she gathered the courage to tell her mother that she wanted to act."Knowing her, I should have guessed that one year would go into backstage and workshops." So, Juhi designed costumes for Nadira's Dil Hi To Hai. After a year, she was offered Yehudi.."In Yehudi., Juhi has to sing also."I had to do a lot of riyaaz on my own. Thankfully, the pitch is regular and I don't have to alaap. Besides, I am working with seasoned personalities who don't ignore my mistakes because I am Baji's daughter." And Juhi finds this the perfect training ground.Will she work only for Ekjute?"Satyadev Dubey wants me to act for him. In fact, I rehearsed for a month in his Magic Pill but had to pull out. Though he still calls me a ditcher, he helped me with thelines for Yehudi. for one full day." She was also supposed to act in one of Makrand Deshpande's plays, but lost her voice completely.Who all does she admire as theatre directors?Satyadev Dubey, Chandrakant Kulkarni, Mac, Rahul da Cunha and Alyque Padamsee.Any other plans?"I attended a lot of morchas with dad and also rallies for Sanjay Dutt. So don't be surprised if I take up politics one day."PUNE, JulyAnd films?"I plan to take up one of the many offers coming my way soon." For training there's gym, Saroj Khan's dance classes and kathak with Uma Dogra. "I will give six to seven years to the industry and then I want to get married, settle down and go back to my garments."-MEETA BHATTI
