Game,set,match

Lisa Haydon who played the hotshot New York entrepreneur,Aarti Menon in Aisha,is all set to face a long innings in Bollywood.

Lisa Haydon ,who played the hotshot New York entrepreneur,Aarti Menon in Aisha,is all set to face a long innings in Bollywood

Launch vehicle
I play Aarti Menon,Arjun Burman Abhay Deols business partner. She is a complete go-getter and works her way up the ladder. She is very confident and thinks its immature to indulge in match-making. Aisha,based on Jane Austens Emma,is a coming-of-age film but Aarti has already come of age. Aarti intimidates Aisha Sonam Kapoor without doing or talking much. She is a complete antithesis of Aisha.

Casting coup
I was at a coffee shop in Mumbai when actor-producer Anil Kapoor spotted me. He came up and spoke to me. The next day he called up my modelling agency Elite and asked them if I would be interested in playing a role in Aisha. He offered the script to me and once I read it,I knew this is the movie with which I wanted to start my film career. Also,the director Rajshree Ojha had made a scrapbook with my pictures and had made up her mind that I would play Aarti Menon.

Stepping-stone
I have done an acting course when I was in Sydney,Australia. I have also done another one in New York but personally Im of the opinion that acting courses do not help you much. I think I have learnt much more on the sets,on the job than when I did the acting course.

First shot
I was incredibly nervous on the first day. My first sequence was with Abhay Deol when he has to rush as Aisha calls him to fix her car. We shot the scene at a restaurant and I didnt know how to behave so I was just natural on screen. Ira Dubey,my co-star in the film,was impressed by me and said that I was really a natural,so I guess I had a good start.

Stumbling-block
My Hindi has been a problem for me but I am slowly learning and getting better. I am taking Hindi lessons and reading Hindi novels,and thats improved my grasp on the language to a large extent. Also,the writers deliberately didnt give me too many dialogues in Hindi but now I can converse much better in the language than I could a year ago.

Lessons learnt
The entire film has been a learning experience for me. I have learnt a lot of stuff that I wouldnt have in any acting class in the world. Once you are on the sets,you have to just let go of yourself. After some time you cant really bother about how your hair looks or how your make- up is. You should just focus on your character and forget about everything else.

Story continues below this ad

Matinee idol
While growing up,I watched a lot of Hollywood movies and really idolised Angelina Jolie. I also like Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz. Meryl Streep is a very versatile actress and I really admire her body of work. In Bollywood I really like Priyanka Chopra. She was so glamorous in Dostana and so real in Kaminey. I would love to work in Vishal Bhardwajs films.

Future projects
Nothing has been finalised as yet but I have been getting a lot of compliments for my role in Aisha. I have read some very good and some not-so -good reviews about me so I am taking it really slow.