Chaitanya Choudhry... Love at Times Squar

From ramp modeling to a career in an advertising firm and from tele-films as a child artiste to a lead role in Dev Anand's Love at Times Square, Chaitanya Choudhry has come a long way. This MBA from Pune's Institute of Management and Research carried himself from being rejected in Round I of the Gladrags Supermodel Contest to ultimately winning the Mr. Photogenic at the same event. Throughout, his determination and will to make it big in the glamour world kept him going. Just finishing the shoot for his debut film Love at Times Square, Chaitanya takes time out to talk to Nitin Kalra in his first ever interview about the film and his life as an actor.

Nitin Kalra: You have a brilliant academic record, then how did modeling and eventually acting happen?
Chaitanya Choudhry: I've always been attracted to acting. As a child I have acted in tele-films and documentaries and I also did a couple of serials. In College I did theatre and eventually the ramp sucked me in. I was fascinated by seeing people walk on the ramp and hence decided to jump on to it too!

NK: Winning the Gladrags Mr. Photogenic must have helped a lot, didn't it?
CC: I had gone to the Gladrags event just for the heck of it. I went there with no expectations and hence when I was rejected in Round I itself I wasn't too disappointed. But then one of the jury members felt I had the potential and told me to reduce weight and to get into shape. I got three months before I could take part in the competition and I worked out a lot in this time. Finally I entered the contest and won the Mr. Photogenic title. It certainly helped me since people around me began recognizing me by face.

"...when I was rejected in Round I itself I wasn't too disappointed."

NK: How did Love at Times Square happen?
CC: I was running around to the producer's offices with my portfolio when one fine day I got a call from Gladrags office that Dev Saab wanted to meet me. I walked in to his office without even knowing I would come out of it with a film on my hands. Looking at me and the five minutes conversation that followed with Dev Saab got me the break I was desperately looking for.

NK: How has the experience been working on the film with a legend like Dev Saab?
CC: It has been a learning experience for me all throughout the making of this film. Though I attended Kishore Namit Kapoor's Acting Classes, I really got the hands on experience when I started working on the film. Dev Saab is a great teacher and he gives ample time to everyone to adjust and be comfortable. I guess because he is an actor himself he knows the difficulties a new comer faces and hence is ready to adjust. No other director would give you so much freedom on the sets as Dev Saab gave us.

NK: You are also shooting for Kalpana Lajmi's Kyon, right?
CC: Yes I am doing the film where I play the son of a rich politician. The film is a murder mystery and revolves around these three guys who are in college and get into this murder case. The film showcases how their lives change overnight and how they cope with it. What attracted me to the film was the fact that it will provide me ample scope to perform. It isn't glamorous but the role is performance oriented.

NK: Are there any more projects that you are working on?
CC: Love at Times Square is releasing in December and Kyon will follow in May next year. I am on the look out for more projects where I can showcase my ability as an actor more than just being a good-looking guy.

Love at Times Square...Exclusive Preview

The film is based on the incident that happened in the life of Dev Anand. In his teens Dev Saab felt that he couldn't make money staying in India and wanted to go abroad. But fate had something else in store for him. However the lead character of Love at Times Square (Chaitanya Choudhry) does go to the US of A. He comes from a middle-class family in Punjab and wants to pursue his dream of making loads of money in America. However his parents cannot afford to send him there. His uncle sponsors his trip to America making all the necessary documents and giving him $2000 for survival. The hero lands up there, stays in a motel with a Gujarati couple and finds himself in trouble, as he is unable to find a job.

Dejected he goes to Times Square on New Year's Eve and meets the heroine (Ameesha Mukherjee) who has come there with her boyfriend. He becomes friends to them and they enjoy the eve together. Few days of struggle and the hero runs out of money. On shelling out his last $100 as rent, he sees an ad in the paper for an estate manager. He applies and gets it. He meets the heroine and her boyfriend again and becomes closer to the girl. He realizes there is something wrong with her relationship with her boyfriend. The love story begins. Who gets the girl? You will have to wait and watch, as Love at Times Square will hit cinemas across the world on New Year's Eve.

The film has been shot extensively in New York, New Jersey and San Francisco. Lucky Ali, Adnan Sami, Aadesh Shrivastav, Rajesh Roshan and Karthik Raja have contributed to the music of the film, which also has a surprise dance number by Salman Khan. This one