Brother-sister duo Navika and Shivansh impress on English Vinglish

Navika and Shivansh Kotia after having impressed you on TV, have put in impressive performances in English Vinglish. Interestingly the two of them who are brother and sister in real life have also played brother and sister in the film. Navika has acted in Maryaada Lekin Kab Tak?, Kairee - Rishta Khatta Meetha and the yet-to-be-released movie, It's My Life. As she in Class VII now, she wishes to concentrate on her studies instead of acting. Shivansh has won the hearts of the viewers in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha. He has done the Dettol commercial and will soon be seen in the Candyman Toffee advertisement too.

Navika Kotia plays Sapna, the daughter of Shashi (enacted by Sridevi) in English Vinglish. Sapna cruelly goes on insulting her mom Shashi for not being fluent in English and feels that her mother is an embarrassment to her for being weak in the language.

Shivansh plays Shashi's son Sagar in the film. He plays a cute, intelligent and energetic kid in English Vinglish just like he is in real life. His mom Bindu Kotia says, "My son is bubbling with energy all the time. Even if he shoots for 18 hours a day he doesn't get tired."

The Kotia family was in New York last year for 25 days to shoot this film. Shivansh says, "It was great fun to tour New York and see the Empire State Building and The Statue of Liberty." His sister Navika adds, "Our entire family was in New York. It was an amazing experience- we shot in the sunshine, rain, fog and snowfall."

Sridevi was very caring, the kids say it was great fun shooting with her. Navika tells us, "She told us not to call her aunty but Sri Ma'am. She had no starry airs whatsoever and was very sweet and kind."

On a parting note we asked Navika what her message was to kids who insulted their parents for not being fluent in English. Her wise reply was, "It hurts our parents very badly when we insult them. We simply don't have the right to do so in private or in public. We can teach them to speak better English without hurting them."

-  Author and Reporter: Pallavi Bhattacharya