TV role sends Mona Singh undercover

When Mona Singh was the Ugly Betty of India, she not only had to conceal her beauty but also her true identity.

The mystery was a huge part of the initial buzz about the Indian TV show Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (There's No One Like Jassi). She played the role of Jasmeet Walia, a middle-class girl with strong family values catapulted into a world of high fashion and dubious morality.

"I had to live the life of Superman," Singh says. She didn't have to change clothes and personalities in a phone booth, but you get the gist. "It was fun. It had never happened to any TV personalities, ever. I was very happy to be a part of that show."

Amazingly, Singh was able to keep her TV identity secret for almost 18 months.

"It was hard, but trust me, it was so much fun. Everybody kept wondering who this person was. The paparazzi were always watching me. They managed to figure it out."

The role itself was challenging because it emphasized playing down her looks, the antithesis of how she had approached modeling.

"Yeah, it was difficult," she says. "I used to model and suddenly being Jassi, who was not supposed to be very beautiful, and having this droopy, clumsy body language — I had to work on it a lot."

Singh attributes the universal appeal of the Ugly Betty story — conceived first as the telenovela Betty la Fea in Colombia — to the desire to support an average girl next door, who turns out to be special.

The U.S. version, Ugly Betty, is an Emmy-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning dramedy starring America Ferrera, Vanessa Williams and Eric Mabius, which premiered on ABC in 2006.

"I think it was all about the struggle of the underdog," Singh says. "She's a girl who everybody could relate to, very middle-class and down to earth."

There's No One Like Jassi aired from 2003 to 2006.

Singh also starred in India's version of Dancing With the Stars and won the first series. "That was another big move for me in my career," she says.

In the touring production of Bollywood Night, Singh is both host and performer. "I'm not hosting it in a formal way," she says. "I'm cracking jokes and calling people up on stage."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4986359.html