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ABCD'S DANCING GIRL IS NOW AN ISI AGENT
Lauren Gottlieb has earned her first action role by replacing Nargis Fakhri in Welcome to Karachi.
American dancer, Lauren Gottlieb, shot to fame with the dance drama, ABCD: Any Body Can Dance, in 2013. Two-and-a-half years later, the 26 year old, insists she's now half-Indian and has found her place in Bollywood, all thanks to director Remo D'Souza.
"Varun (Dhawan) and Shraddha (Kapoor) are the stars of ABCD 2 but I have a solo track and plenty of dancing. Earlier, my co-stars used to tease me Phoren Ka Lauren, but this time, I was the one who ended up copying their thumkas and speaking their slang," laughs the actress.
Having wrapped up ABCD 2, Lauren flew off to Indore, this week to begin shooting for Vashu Bhagnani's Welcome to Karachi. Asked if she has replaced another American import, Nargis Fakhri, she replied, "Yes. I'm really excited about my bad-ass character, who's a Pakistani ISI agent."
Lauren will be seen alongside Jackky Bhagnani and Arshad Warsi, whose characters find themselves stuck in Karachi without their passports and are then abducted by the Taliban. "The role reminded me of my New York days when my father would walk around the house carrying a gun. It's an action film and you'll see me doing a lot of stunts," she promises.
Vashu Bhagnani has decided to add an extra song-and-dance routine to his political satire after signing the dancer. And Lauren will take to the dance floor with Jackky. However, she's quick to add that she will soon be seen in films which don't have any naach-gaana. "In May, I will start another big banner film, which I will film back-to-back. They have me in a serious role," she says.
The actress admits that she hasn't had the time to breathe since she moved to Mumbai to pursue a showbiz career.
"I don't get to go home often and I really yearn to spend some quality time with my family," she sighs. "Luckily, I got to stay with my parents for three weeks while we were shooting ABCD 2 in Las Vegas."
A major portion of the sequel was filmed in Sin City and Lauren who showed off her dance moves in the original and the TV reality show, Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa - Season 6 and 7, asserts that this portion had difficult choreography. "I would master the steps in minutes because of my dance background but it would take Shraddha much longer that that. But she was a real sport and always got it right in the end," she applauds.
Lauren admits that though she is flooded with offers in Bollywood, her popularity hasn't peaked back in the US.
"Most of the online content is blocked there, so even if I want my friends to watch a few videos of my work, it's not possible. The American producers probably think I've fallen off the globe," she rues, adding that when she returns home all they will see is a girl who has lost a lot of weight and looks much older."
Mumbai Mirror
Published date: March 19, 2015
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