Crossing

Casting Coup

A friend of mine fixed an appointmentwith the producers of Aalaap. They liked me and signed me for a full fledged role. Unfortunately,the character that was offered to me got scrapped. and I didn’t get any reply from the producers for months. One day I got a call from them asking me to do a dance number in the film. An item song is not what I envisioned as my entry in Bollywood,but since I am a trained dancer I decided to take up the opportunity. Also the fact that,the song Agnee,is composed by the famous music band excited me.

Stepping Stone

I was born in Sri Lanka and brought up in Australia. In Sri Lanka,I learnt classical dancing and when I moved to Australia,I took lessons in western dance. It was in 2010 that I came to India,after I won the Miss Sri Lanka 2009 beauty pageant. It boosted my morale and gave me confidence to do something in show biz. In Mumbai,I took up acting lessons and now I am waiting to sign some really good offers.

First Shot

We first shot the middle portion of the song,. Thankfully,before we went on floor,choreographer Mehul Gadani made me rehearse the dance steps. But in front of the camera,I found it difficult to understand the camera angles. It took me some time to get learn it. The first shot was a group dance scene,It was okayed in just one retake and I think the producers should be proud of that. The song,titled Chadti jawani,will see me doing a lot of folk steps. It required a lot of practice as I have never done folk dance.

Stumbling Block

The song was shot in the night,the temperature was really low and it was difficult to dance in just a tiny ghagra choli! That apart,it has a lot of lifts,and I have a phobia of height. Since it was my very first number I did not want to disappoint any one,so I continued without revealing my fear to anyone. I controlled my emotions and did not let it show on my face. Later after the entire shoot,I told the choreographer of my fear and he was shocked.

Lessons Learnt

I got to learn a lot about Bollywood. I realised that the film-makers and the crew are very professional in their approach and are very talented. When I reached the set,everything was well planned and things went as per schedule. Over the course of time,I learnt all the camera angles like when to look at the lenses,what reactions and expressions to give etc. In fact today when I see Chadti jawani,I feel that I could have done it even better!

Matinee Idol

The only person because of whom,I am here today is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. She had come to Sri Lanka after winning the Miss World pageant. She inspired me to take part in the beauty contest.

Future Projects

There is one big banner film which I have signed,but let the producers do the honours and announce the project!

onkar.kulkarni@expressindia.com