An inspiring beautiful mind

A little about your character in Saarthi.
In Saarthi, my character Shefali started off as a college going girl whose is the only child of a well to do father. Though she was a positive character, she was quite snooty. Her character grew from a young college girl to an obsessive lover to a negative character, which later turned positive after a redemption scene only to become negative again! Every shade and every look (western-Indian-corporate) had been explored about the character. I got saturated doing the same thing over and over again and decided to step out.

Music videos, ramp walks, co-hosting shows and acting... Which of the three do you find the most satisfying? Why?
They are all similar but not the same. They have different audiences and are completely different mediums – though all give a different experience and high. If I were to choose one, it would be acting, as its one form where all your efforts come into play together. Having the presence to perform either for an audience or for camera, to be in character, to know your lines, to feel them and emote is definitely the best experience.

As an actress, how satisfying do you find television?
Television has definitely hit the boom times and has come of its own. It has provided employment to a lot people, so I am definitely lucky to be a part of it. As far as satisfaction with content goes, I know we can do much more. I see a lot of channels and production houses breaking away from the mould and venturing into different concepts and I am hopeful that we will have more variety to choose from. Personally, I am waiting for one such different concept before I go back into the shooting mode.

How about films?
I have been offered films but was too preoccupied with daily soaps to be able to give any dates, as I could not go back on my commitment. Now I will be taking some time off and am open to all mediums; be it an interesting film, a great play, or even a television show. It could even be anchoring! But I'm not looking at the run of the mill song-dance routine in a film.

What sort of roles are you looking forward in films?
I'm looking for a great story and a challenging role to play. It could be commercial or real cinema.

Any dream role
The human mind fascinates me. Recently I was reading a biography of Hitler to understand what was going on in his mind when he decided to do the unthinkable! I was touched by the film, A Beautiful Mind. I thought Russel Crowe did a fantastic job. I would love to do that kind of stuff.

Do stories about Bollywood scare you?
I have not really heard any scary stories about Bollywood but I'm wary of people who claim to be producers when they are not. So it's good to do a bit of homework on the people you are going to meet.

Was designing a career option or just a hobby?
I was always associated with fashion in one way or the other. At 14, I did my first summer job at weekender. This opened me up to the field of garments. I studied design and merchandising right after school and was always more inclined towards the business aspect of it. Here, I was introduced to the choreographer and was exposed to ramp modelling. Acting was always a hobby but turned into a profession after my course at the Lee Strasberg Institute.

How different do you find Mumbai from Delhi. Would you want to settle down here instead of Delhi?
I visited Mumbai in '96 with my friends and immediately fell in love with the city. I loved the vibe and pace of the city. Today people find it hard to believe that I was not born and brought up here. So I guess even if I was not here to act I would have found some other reason to be here.

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