Articles Archive - Page 49

Neha Marda first sprang into the limelight with Boogie Woogie. The petite beauty from Kolkata participated in the wildly popular dance show thrice and won each time. Although becoming an actor was never an ambition Neha harboured, showbiz was clearly destined for her. "While I was preparing for my 11th standard exams, I got a call from Sahara One to audition for a role," she explains. Neha breezed through the auditions and bagged a role in Saath Rahega Always. The show did not last long, but Neha was noticed. The year 2009 was good for her, as she landed the role of Gehna in Balika Vadhu. Essaying the role of a young girl forcibly married off to a much older man, Gehna became a household name almost immediately. But Neha admits, "I could not relate to Gehna initially…I was so far removed from her that it was difficult to understand what she was going through. With workshops and stringent shoot requirements (she was instructed not to speak much to Satyajit Sharma and Surekha Sikri, who played her husband and mother-in-law, respectively), Gehna gradually became a part of me." As her character's importance on the show increased, so did Neha's popularity. Today, more than a year later, the young actress is one of the most recognised faces on television.

Being constantly in the limelight (quite literally!) makes Neha susceptible to skin and hair damage. "People may say that beauty is skin deep, but I believe that unless you take care of yourself,