Mona 'Jassi' Singh's final triumph

When you are dancing believe in yourself, enjoy the act and forget about the world," is the winning mantra of makeover queen Mona 'Jassi' Singh who won the Jhalak Dikhla Jaa title on Friday night. Indeed she did the same through her topsy-turvy journey of eight rounds spread across eight weeks.

Like the character of an ugly duckling that she played in her debut serial Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, Mona, like her screen character Jassi who took all setbacks in her stride and went ahead with a single-minded purpose to win her love, also danced her way to victory despite tough competition from co-finalist Shveta Salve. Undoubtedly despite trailing behind Shveta by 13 points on the basis of judges' marks Mona clinched the Jhalak title on the strength of viewers' votes.

When Jhalak started on September 7, Mona wasn't anybody's favourite. She also wasn't a consistent performer either. As rounds passed the Punjabi kudi improved by leaps and bounds. But she had to contend with a formidable challenge from Shveta. By the time the competition reached the grand finale it became amply clear that Mona was going to be viewers' Mona darling.

"It was very tough," admits Mona. "I couldn't dance but I was willing to work hard. My debut serial made me famous as Jassi and with Jhalak I wanted to become famous as Mona Singh. It's a great feeling to have achieved what I set out to do when I agreed to take part in the show. I really feel top of the world."

But she candidly admits that when the competition began she didn't expect to reach the final round, leave alone winning the title. "I wasn't sure but I kept working on my dance. I was a complete non-dancer and thought I may not go beyond the second or third round. But Toby (her choreographer) believed in me. My biggest problem was my weight and Toby asked me to cut it down. I lost eight-and-half-kilos," says the makeover queen who feels the show had some big personalities and anything could have happened with one or two real bad performances.

"Shveta is a great dancer and (Ajay) Jadeja is hugely popular. Mahesh (Manjrekar) was another big challenge." Mona says she began on a bad note but got a encouraging response from the viewers. "Farha Khan was impressed. She felt I could go a long way if I worked on my steps. That's precisely what I did and gave my 200 per cent to the show. There was no choice but to take the challenge head-on," says Mona, admitting that her co-finalist Shveta was an equally deserving candidate for the Jhalak title.

"I am glad that viewers voted for me. My Jassi popularity helped me win the competition. Three months ago I was known as Jassi and now I am known as Mona. I am really thankful to Sony for giving me two big platforms to achieve all the name and fame."

Mona says she is committed to TV. "Films will be a kind of bonus," she says. Her contract with film producer Bobby Pushkarna is cancelled and she is hoping for better offers to come her way. "It is very important for an actor to dance well. Now that people know that I can dance well I hope some exciting offers will come by," hopes Mona who was approached by Sony for Bigg Boss.

"I said no because I can't stay away from my family and friends (Karan Oberoi included) for three months," she adds. Her next show with Sony is Extreme Makeover. Besides discussions are on for a daily soap as well.