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It was really embarrassing for my family and me'
In an exclusive interview with BT, actor Amna Sharif talks about her link-up with Rajeev Khandelwal and her equation with the new Sujal, Gurpreet Singh
SUBHASH K JHA
Amna Sharif has bought herself a new place. "I'm busy doing it up right now. I did appoint an interior decorator, but most of the work was done by me. It's a huge house. My room is much too glamourous. We have a family house in Bandra. But I always wanted a place of my own. I'm a very selfdependent person. To have a place of my own gives me great deal of satisfaction," she says.
She's weary of scandals and controversies. "What's the point of taking away from people's curiosity about you? I'd rather let my work prove my worth. I hate being written about. If every day there was a story about Amna doing this or that, why would people be interested in watching me?"
Amna comes from a very conservative Muslim family. "My folks were totally against my career. But from childhood I was fond of dancing and acting. I was a big fan of Madhuri Dixit. I made a tape of my dances. Though I knew my family would oppose it, I had to follow the call of my heart. For a while I was into designing, as I worked in a boutique. Eventually, I got around to modelling. It took me a year to convince my mother. Even today I know my dad wouldn't have approved if he was around. But I know I'd never do anything to shame my family. My mother let me do one ad film. I was thrilled because I was paid what was a fortune—Rs 25, 000. After that there was no stopping me. I did a lot of ads and music videos. Finally, Ekta Kapoor offered me Kahiin To Hoga. I really respect Ekta for what she has achieved at such a young age. Rarely does one come across someone like her."
Amna Sharif is a rare TV actor who has resisted the temptation of doing more than one daily soap. "It's very important to focus everything you do. How can one actor focus on five characters in five serials? But now I'll finally be taking up one more serial."
She's not too happy with the erratic schedules on television. "I'm constantly fighting the clock. The way of working here isn't quite what I had hoped for. It will take me a while to get used to it. But I'm not complaining. I don't blame anyone except the actors. I think television actors have become big now. They need to project themselves accordingly."
Still Amna says that she's quite happy doing television. "I've been getting lots of film offers. But nothing that would tempt me into getting into films. Sometimes the budget of a film offered to me is good. But then the storyline seems thin. If I do a film it has to be bigger than my character in KTH. I can't play just a Christmas tree. It has to be a performance-oriented film. I don't mind mind facing the camera without make-up (though I'm very particular about my looks and presentation in my serial)."
She's been doing KTH for three years now. "I've played Kashish for so long, I can't imagine a time when I wouldn't be coming to the sets. The kind of attention and affection I get makes me very happy. I've made sure the serial doesn't drag for me. I keep putting in new shades so audiences don't get bored."
Shades remind me of Amna's by-now well-known penchant for glamourous self-projection. "I take a great deal of trouble for my looks. The first thing I do on the sets is to organise my look and costumes for the scenes. It has paid off. Everyone comments on my looks."
She's now doing another soap with her Kahiin To Hoga co-star Rajeev Khandelwal. "Frankly, at this stage of my life, I don't want to do another daily. I've learnt a lot from KTH; I've evolved as a person. Now I need to move ahead. I've made sure I do a lot of things other than the soap. I do a lot of live shows. I keep on experimenting."
She's not perturbed by the fact that she's become a popular jodi with Rajeev Khandelwal. "I don't think it ever bothered Shah Rukh and Kajol that they were considered a popular pair. Although Rajeev hasn't been my co-star on KTH for more than year, the audience still thinks of us as a couple. Now that I'm doing another serial Hum Do Hamare Do with him, people have bombarded me with enthusiastic responses. It's a completely different character. I'll play a bubbly character, very different from Kashish in KTH. I've reduced my dates for KTH, so dates will not be a problem for the new show."
She admits Rajeev and she share a great on-screen chemistry. But all other insinuations are annoying. "Earlier it used to really bother me when people would link Rajeev with me. It was really embarrassing for my family and me. But now I'm used to it. Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't share a rapport with my mother where she can question me directly about such rumours. She trusts me. Explanations aren't needed. I'm very comfortable working with Rajeev. He's a brilliant actor."
And does she share the same chemistry with the actor who now plays Sujal in KTH? "See, I'm a professional. When Rajeev and I worked together we had enough time to get comfortable on camera. We share a different rapport. It was a situation of pure give-andtake on the camera with Rajeev. But Gurpreet, who plays Sujal now, came on suddenly and we started shooting. It isn't really important to be friendly with costars. But I'm friendly with everyone on the sets of KTH. It's like a real family."
Amna doesn't know how long KTH will go on. "But it's become an essential part of me."
AMNA KI KAMNA: Amna Sharif
Source: Bombay times
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