Ugly duckling to dancing queen

hey, how are my favourite people? its been a while since ive posted here, but i found this article on mona and thought i would share...plus i miss the masti around here😭....lekin even if i dont post, im still floating around here😆

ANUMITA GHOSH

Mona Singh jaisi koi nahin… Big braces, grandma glasses, behind-the-time salwar suits, sloppy gait… Playing a clumsy secretary in a big fashion house would perhaps not be a dream television debut for most. But for this Punjabi lass playing Jasmeet Walia in Sony's flagship serial Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin is her passport to stardom. The show might be off air but Mona is still synonymous with her Jassi image. And no one seems to be complaining; certainly not the lady in question.

On Wednesday, Mona visited Udayan in Barrackpore for the endorsement of Hindustan Lever Limited's Surf Excel 10/10 (a public campaign to raise funds towards the education of underprivileged children at Udayan) and was only too happy to be "Jassidi" for the children.

"Mere jaise to bahut honge but the kids here are unique," she smiled before rewinding to her Jassi days. "In any field one takes risks, and I took one too. Luckily Jassi clicked and the experience while it lasted was worthwhile."

So was Jassi a difficult role to play? "Not at all. Jassi is more or less like me, simple, from a middle-class background yet ambitious. I did not have to put in any extra effort."

Now, Mona is basking in her new-found fame as a dancer. A self-proclaimed "non-dancer", she won top honours at Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, a celebrity dance competition from the Sony stable. "I never expected to win but I did put in 200 per cent of hard work."

The Jhalak fever has certainly not faded. When the kids at Udayan danced to Jiya jale for their star guest, Mona was all smiles and tapping feet. And when she took the stage, with an impromptu Bollywood number, the boys and girls cheered along.

When probed on her style and beauty quotient, Mona admitted being "more a jeans and Tee person." The look on Wednesday though was simple and traditional — a yellow-orange salwar suit. "My profession demands me to be presentable, but to be successful looks hardly matter."

Up next is a reality show, Extreme Makeover, that Mona will host sometime in 2007. "I am also looking at a few scripts in Bollywood." But serials with "men marrying over and over again…" is a strict no-no for the actress with a Calcutta connection.

"As a kid I lived for almost three years in Salt Lake... I keep coming back for shows and I never forget to take back mishti doi," she signed off.