Jassi looks for a new career

For more than a year now, Mona Singh has played the bumbling Jassi in Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, adapted from the hugely popular Colombian telenovela, Yo Soy Betty La Fea. Jassi's instantly recognisable soda-bottle glasses and unfashionable fringe became working-class icons, seeking to highlight an ordinary girl's extraordinary dreams.

But now, after it's protagonist's much-hyped makeover, is the soap winding down towards a conclusion? Singh's contract with Sony Entertainment Television expires in May this year. What will Jassi do next?

"I haven't thought about it," says Singh, just back from Mauritius. "I haven't had the time. I guess I'll take a long break in May… it's been a really hectic time for me. This is the time for me to build on my career."

Singh says she has no plans to act in another soap. And apparently, renewing her contract is not on the channel's agenda.

"I want to do a soap as different and pioneering as Jassi. I'm getting a lot of film offers; I'll consider a new soap, and maybe films, after my contract with Sony expires. But I'll never quit TV. The medium has turned me into a household name. In cinema, you're forgotten after three hours."

But will viewers accept her as another character? "I don't want them to forget me as Jassi, even when I stop doing the role," says the actress. "I've done so many different things within this one role. I couldn't have hoped for a better chance to prove my talent."

What about Jassi's dramatic transformation? "Not so dramatic," says Singh. "I've been sleeping peacefully with my braces and glasses for more than a year. I don't think I'm tired of them."

But why the makeover? "Jassi had reached a dead-end. Her love life was a mess. Her feelings for Armaan had been crushed and she had more or less overdosed on self-annihilation and needed to feel whole again."

"I'm very excited about my new look. It was important for Jassi to gather self-confidence, to look like the entrepreneur she is. Queenie Dhody and Seema Khan are working on my appearance. And I already can't recognise myself in the mirror!"