15 Jun, 2007 l 0000 hrs ISTlRUMA SINGH /Epaper
A fab debut with SRK, now leading lady to John Abraham. Bangalore girl Anaitha Nair is flying high.
But this is not Anaitha's first taste of Bollywood. In January, she finished shooting for Chak De India, the Shah Rukh-starrer in which she is one of the 11 girls in the hockey team he coaches. Despite being a slick Yash Raj film, trouble has been taken to picturise hockey realistically. "We trained for three months in Mumbai and then shot in Mumbai, Australia and Delhi. It was a fantastic experience. We girls got along really well," she says. As for the hockey, it's important to know the sport you are picturising, she adds, "Script apart, it must be technically sound, so it has visual appeal. I think Lagaan and Iqbal were the only two realistic sports films made so far."
She hopes Chak De... revives public interest in hockey. "It's such a fun sport, though it's hard work too. We trained with some of India's best players, including Olympians, and I felt so bad for them. There's so much politics in the sport. Even now players travel to tournaments without proper train reservations!
If the movie does some good for Indian hockey , it will be great," she says. She also raves about SRK, the film's protagonist. "He's amazing, really sweet. Many of us were facing the camera for the first time, and he was so helpful." So despite not having 'connections' or clout, Anaitha is off to a flying start in Bollywood.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/2123749.cms
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