Soaps offer more money than Guj-films:Leena(Khemi

Says actress Leena Jhumani about the Gujarati

Leena Jhumani

film industry

Hers is the story of how the paucity of funds and lack of good creative content forces an aspiring actor to look for greener pastures. And like other Gujarati actors who have managed to eke out a handsome living from television, Leena Jhumani too has set foot in the telly world.

Having worked in the Gujarati television industry and experimenting with Gujarati movies, Leena found the tinsel town and the small celluloid to be a lucrative platform. "I worked in the Gujarati soap and then acted in couple of Gujarati movies. Now, I am playing the lead in the Gujarati movie Bhurabhai Metric Fail," says Leena.

Academics, according to Leena, is not her cup of tea. "After I completed my XI standard, I just discontinued studies. And then I took up modelling as I was drawn towards it," confesses Leena who hails from a humble family based in Naroda.
One does not know whether her story too will add another chapter to the 'rags to riches' phenomenon; nevertheless, she seems quite promising in Ekta Kapoor's latest offering Bandhini. Wasn't Leena contended with the Gujarati films she was doing? "I am still doing them. But financially, the industry does not pay much," says Leena.

To this 19-year-old whose father has a shoe shop in Shahibaug, "If working in soaps is my bread and butter, taking part in mainstream Gujarati movies is the dividend. As I don't want to detach myself completely from the homeland."
However, it is worthwhile to know from Leena that how cash trapped is the Gujarat film industry. "For my first Gujarati film, I was paid around 21k. For my latest flick I received 51k. And that is the progression so far." And on whether her earnings from television are more, she says, "I earn a decent living from television. What I earn from doing a Gujarati film is less than from my monthly income when I do a soap."

About her co-stars and production crew in her current soap, Leena says, "I enjoyed the outdoor shoot while we were shooting in Udaipur. I met Ronit Roy and interacted with him. Coincidentally, the track of the soap is similar to what happened in the soap. My second sister was married to the groom when my elder sister refused. She wanted to be a stock analyst and is happy for the decision she has taken. Soaps offer more money than Gujarati films."