Is this the same girl?

No one seems more surprised by the sequence of events than the 23-year-old herself, who is married to low-profile Mumbai artist, Satya Gupta. ‘‘I can’t pin down exactly why I’ve struck it big in India,’’ says Yana who has appeared on several glossy magazine covers, in racy music videos (remember Jalwa 2?), in numerous print and television ads (with her creamy skin, she is the face of Lakme cosmetics), and worked the ramp for some of India’s most celebrated designers.

‘‘I know I do my job well, better than most other models here, but it’s still hard to explain why I’ve become this phenomenon,’’ she adds while sipping sugar-free cappuccino (the eager staff are so keen to keep her in their restaurant that they take a full thirty minutes to serve us

coffee. Our waiter even offers to burn her a CD when she tells him she likes the music).

At the most basic level, Yana has succeeded in India because she is conventionally attractive. ‘‘Models in Europe these days all have interesting, weird faces,’’ she says, adding ‘‘being beautiful just doesn’t cut it in the West anymore; luckily it works just fine in India.’’ Yet Yana clearly offers more than a pretty face, peachy skin, and a curvy body: other local models have all these but could never realistically aspire to Yana’s plane.

Always brazenly sexual, Yana has ingeniously Indianised her look to suit the local palette. Her hair has been coloured dark and she has learnt to carry off saris and kurtas like any local model. Her first foray into Bollywood saw her dancing as a village girl in an item number, another attempt to be viewed as an insider. ‘‘They should have made me look even more Indian in the song, and I was surprised that they didn’t,’’ she says ruefully.

Although there were strong commercial incentives to reinvent herself in a more ethnic form, Yana’s push to look more Indian stems from a genuine desire to fit into this country. ‘‘Why do people say I’m becoming more Indian when I already am one?’’ she asks angrily. ‘‘Of course I do things to fit in here; this is my home!’’ To be fair, Yana was drawn to India out of an appreciation for its culture, not because she foresaw a life of glamour.

‘‘The irony is that I came here because I was sick of the modelling scene abroad and wanted to

experience meaningful things in my life (She worked for a few years as a model on the Continent and in Japan). Even though I grew up in the Czech Republic and spent most of my life in Europe, I’m Indian at heart,’’ she says, adding, ‘‘Life in the West is so serious, so sterile. Over there it’s all about your aim, your job, your money, and everything is built around security. Here it’s more about life, not just things in life.’’

And for Yana, nothing reflects India’s colour, spontaneity and vibrancy better than Hindi movie dance extravaganzas: ‘‘Yes of course, most song sequences in Bollywood films are silly and make little sense, but they are also intense emotional expressions where beautiful moments are created. Whether it’s the clothes, the bright hues, the

energy, the star’s movements, or the group choreography it’s all so refreshingly alive. In the song everyone acts like everything in life is perfect. We have nothing like it where I grew up,’’ she says. In fact, Yana enjoyed working on her first item number so much that she’s considering similar roles in addition to her

regular dance gigs at Bollywood shows around the world. “I love being an item girl! Music is my juice and as long as I get to express myself through dance I’ll never complain,” she says excitedly.

Although embracing most aspects of Indian culture, Yana has conspicuously refused to adhere to an important local standard: she is unapologetic about appearing blatantly sexual ensuring that she will always remain an iconoclast in this country. ‘‘Sometimes I wonder if there is any sexuality in this place,’’ jokes Yana, adding emphatically, ‘‘For some reason people here choose to repress themselves, so

sex becomes a giant, unspoken issue and it’s always at the back of everybody’s mind. We all enjoy it, so why don’t we just get it out into the open?’’

Ironically, it is this stand that arouses many Indian men and that Indian women find so disconcerting. For some women, this Caucasian model preys on some of their greatest insecurities, donning their clothes yet flouting their values. And for most Indian men, Yana represents the best of both worlds: raw Western sexual appeal, garbed in ethnic acceptability and cushioned by a familiar last name. This has been Yana Gupta’s formula. ‘‘Being a sex symbol is mostly about confidence, which goes way beyond looks,’’ she says sharply. ‘‘I am who I am and know exactly what I want.’’

Yana’s ascent is intimately connected to the global age we live in: the real winners in India today are those individuals clever enough to adapt Western trends or themes to suit local tastes, be it in music, film, television, or fashion. And few have married West and East better than Yana. Not only has she embraced this culture on its own terms, she’s also managed to retain her ‘authentic foreign’ mystique. That’s what sets her apart from any other item girl.

Oh, she’s also the only person in India who can talk dirty in Hindi — with a Czech accent.