NEW Art: Why people link me with Rajiv

Amna Sharif has bought herself a new place next to Oberoi Skyhigh in the Meghdoot Towers building.. "I'm busy doing it up right now. I did appoint an interior decorator. But most of the work was done by me. My family and I shifted into the new place though the work isn't completed.

It's a huge house. But it doesn't feel like home as yet. My room is much too glamorous. We've a family house in Bandra. But I always wanted a place of my own. I'm a very self-dependent person. To have a place of my own gives me great deal of satisfaction."

She's weary of scandals and controversies. "I don't like talking too much in the press. 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. I worked in a boutique. Eventually I got around to modeling. 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. She takes interest in every show."

Amna Sharif is that rare tv actor who has resisted the temptation of doing more than one daily soap. "It's very important to focus everything. 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 movements 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 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 Kahiin To Hoga.

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 did Kahiin To Hoga for three years. "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 glamorous self-projection. "I take a great deal of trouble over my looks. The first thing I do on the sets is to organize 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 Rajiv Khandelwal. "Frankly at this stage of my life I don't want to do another daily. I've learnt a lot from Kahiin To Hoga, 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 about the fact that she's become a popular jodi with Rajiv Khandelwal. "I don't think it ever bothered Shah Rukh and Kajol that they were considered a popular pair. Although Rajiv hasn't been my co-star on Kahiin To Hoga 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, completely different from Kashish in Kahiin To Hoga. I've reduced my dates for Kahiin…so dates will not be a problem for the new show."

She admits Rajiv 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 Rajiv with me. It was really embarrassing for me and my family. 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. But I can face her. She trusts me. Explanations aren't needed…. I'm very comfortable working with Rajiv. He's a brilliant actor."

And did she share the same chemistry with the, ha ha, the actor who played Sujal in Kahiin To Hoga after Rajiv's departure ?

"See, I'm professional. When Rajiv 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-and-take on camera with Rajiv. But Gurpreet who played Sujal after Rajiv, came on suddenly and we started shooting.

It isn't really important to be friendly with co-stars. …But I was friendly with everyone on the sets of Kahiin To Hoga. It's like a real family.To come across an actor like Tinu Anand is such a learning experience."