Resisting sweet TEMPTATION

Despite her beauty,Giselle is simply not the kind of actress who wants to be stared at. In Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal— her face was bare of make-up except for perhaps a smidgen of blush,and she wore no jewellery,save for a striking nose ring. But the audience loved her as the calm,collected character of Harleen,Saif Ali Khan’s love interest.

Giselle’s innocence seems to have struck a chord with her directors and that’s probably why she was roped in AKK. But,the actress is already looking for a change as far as her on-screen presentation is concerned. “I want to play a role that is not of a sweet Indian girl and I would love a more challenging role. I guess a change for me is the need of the hour. I have received many offers post Love Aaj Kal,but unfortunately most of them carried a shade of Harleen. I personally want to move out of that zone,something that I am consciously working towards,”She says.

The model-turned-actress came to Mumbai from her little hometown Espirito Santo in Brazil,back in 2008. “When I was five my dad used to sing ‘You are my little Indian’,a lullaby for me. The Indian in the song was actually meant to denote a Red Indian,but it seems like the word has stayed with me,” she chuckles,going on a quick rewind mode.

Talking of her aversion to the nice,sweet,next-door-girl roles,she adds,“I’m not really sure why people take me to be an Indian. Probably it’s because I have always used basic make-up and love to wear my hair straight. But,I must confess that my Hindi is very bad. For Love …,I had to compulsorily go to a diction tutor to improve my language.”

It’s been three years since the actress left her home and settled in Mumbai. And though she has yet to find a role of her choice,the actress says that she has found a second home in the city. “It was difficult to leave behind my family and come to a new place. But the city has treated me like its own,” she says. Settling down in the gritty and dusty city,with the traffic snarls,and crowded trains was no problem for the actress. Though when she first came to the city Giselle was in for quite a ride,which was at times bumpy,but,mostly fun. The actress confides,to be plagued by communication problems,when she first settled in the city,“As I told you,my Hindi was very bad.”

Does she feel more confident now? “Now I have a set of Hindi teachers who travel with me wherever I go: my friends. As I am alone in the city,they have become my extended family. At every given opportunity they keep correcting my Hindi. I’m sure I’ll perfect the language some day,thanks to them,” she laughs.