Part 2

Ah.. where was I?? Oh yes... Still Single!!... well... it created controversies beyond imagination... it dealt with our society's hyprocritical, prejudicist culture which they didn't take well.. but they were afraid to put up any protests or boycoutting the theatre as only few of them felt that way... and the others clearly agreed with whatever I wanted to say through the help of my movie...by the way, I also played the role of the protagonist...
(Well.. I would like to share the story of Still Single,but the real me is planning to write it myself someday.. I don't want anyone to steal my idea)...

After my first directorial debut... ( I dont know if this is the right usage..as debut already indicates it is the first).. everybody thought that from now on I would only concentrate in my acting career... but they were wrong.. I continued my acting jobs...but now.. I am also a writer,model, actor, producer and director..

I am famous for my dignity and integrity... media loves me... audience are fanatic about me.. everybody wants a piece of me - I meant that in a good way- but I keep myself mysterious and unreachable...

There was a time when the media wanted some dirt on me.. so they went to my school/ college friends and asked them about my past life.. only they couldn't get anything as my life was/is a clean slate..

Then out of no where.. somebody started a rumour about me.. the usual thing.. me having an affair with one of my collegues... we only acted together in 3-4 movies.. and we didnt even have a combination scene in one of them.. but in all the others we were paired as lovers and our on-screen chemistry was to die for...and the P.R.executives of those films didnt make it easy for us.. they actually used these rumours for the publicity campaign...and it worked... but then..it all went into ashes.. when the fellow actor declared his marriage with a gal... that would teach them...

The people in the film fraternity have this belief that if I am in their film it is bound to run for a 100 days.. no matter what... I am considered to be a lucky charm..everybody wants to impress me..which is not that easy..

Before accepting a film, I always ask for the final draft of the script.. the one where you dont have to change anything... 90% of the directors wont have it.. they approach you with a one liner... they just give a line of the story and makes you sign the contract...not with me.. I need to know everything.. the story, my character, the importance of my character in the story... after reading the script, I make an appointment with the director for discussion... if I have any questions-which I always do- I ask him then and there... if I disgree with something on the script, I tell him then and there...then I decide whether or not to sign the contract... I am not particular about my salary.. once I sign the contract I put all my efforts in making my character memorable...

People in the film fraternity consider this habit of mine odd ,but working.. some of the actors have chosen to do it my way... I dont know whether they are successful in it or not...

I dont have much friends in the field... but I am cordial with everybody... everybody likes/loves me... if you watch a certain talk show where they use a game called 'rapid fire'... you can see my name coming up lots of times with lots of people..

Now after, working more than 5 languages in India.... written, directed and produced some movies, acted and directed certain unforgettable ad films, receiving 100s of awards including national, state, filmfare and all the other junks... I am moving to Hollywood...

I have been offered a film by none other than Hollywood's greatest, in his next film based on a timeline happening in 1955... where I will be playing the role of a grade school teacher in the 50s who falls in love with an AIDS patient which is obviously played by Hollywood heart throb LD...

I will be going to LA sometime middle of this year after completing certain committments here in India...

I have also signed a contract with the Discovery Travel and Living Channel to do a series on India... discussions are going on that...

And the answer to the question of where do I see myself in 10 yrs?? well... I guess having an extraordinarily fulfilling life... both personal and professional... I know it is a cliche'..but..hey... face it.. it is what we all want...right??

I think what they say is true... Sky is definitely not the limit...

If I was all this for real.. you know ..whatever I told you now.. would the 'other me' want to have an alternate life of a geeky indoorish girl, who is not being able to lose hold of her past and keep wondering what the future have in stock for her and actually forgetting to live her present...

Uh.. guess I will never know...

Alternate Life Part 1

I believe that at some point in our life we all want to become a writer. A writer who is well known for the uniqueness in their work. Who has world wide readers waiting impatiently for their favourite author to publish his/her next work, because they know that its going to be better and different than anything that they have ever read.

Lately, I was wondering, if I had an alternate life, an alternate present, what would I want to be. What kind of a life I want to live.

Well...frankly speaking, I didn't have to wonder. The answer was right in front of me.... There are some things in your life, that you don't discuss with others. Some of your secret desires that you don't even say to yourself.

One of my all time secret desire, was to become an actress. Well, there.. I said it... out loud.. for the first time in my life...

But not the kind of actresses that we have right now... who sacrificed their education for an uncertain career in cinema. Or not the types, who had their family to back them up.. or not even the ones..who are labelled as 'model turned actors'...

I am a different kind of actress... I came into the film industry - as it has become a business now- when I was 22 years old.. I finished my education... I didn't have anyone working in the field... overall..I even hated posing infront of the camera to take pictures, even it was with my family... and I never wanted to become an actress..it wasn't even in my wildest of dreams...

But, as you can imagine... somebody spotted me... a debutant director who had a fresh new script and who was desperately in need of a new face... oh..and by the way..its a bollywood movie...he was very frustrated with all the work he had to do to set up everything for his first movie... every pieces of the puzzle was intact, except for the central, most important one...a newcomer to play the main role of his dream project... he set out for auditions in various parts of the country..he did everything he could... but he wasn't successful.. so he took a break..came down to kerala...to ease his mind...

And right there... he saw the girl who is destined to play the character , he was moulding for years... yep..that was me.. now.. don't get into any ideas that he got me just like that.. he had to work for months to make me say 'OK, I will give it a try'...mainly because... I just finished my Post Graduation and didn't have a clue on what to do next.. so I thought of taking a break from my normal life and went on to experience the world of lights, camera and action...

I bid adieu to my family and friends...who thought I was crazy and insane... to take off like that, to act in a movie... I flew to our film capital... Mumbai.. stayed with my family friends... went through some usual craps that all actors have to go through when they start off... honestly.. I never thought it would work out.. I thought at some point they will realise that they made a mistake and will send me back home... but it was the other way around...

I succeeded in every tests... everything they set out for me..even the impossible ones... media still consider my turning in to an actress is the greatest gift that the world of cinema has ever got...
Well... long story short.. I never had to look back from there on.. I became a well known actress who everybody loves for her uniqueness and versatality..
After my first movie - which rocked the entire nation, recieved so many awards, including best debutant (female) thats me...and considered to be a trend setter of all times-I began to start acting in other Indian languages including my own mother tongue...

I won several awards including National Awards and others given out for the amazing talent that I have exhibited...

Movies began to collect the box office just because of my appearance in it... All directors love me and all actors want to romance me on screen.. not to mention off screen...

All actresses want to be like me and wishes to know the secret of my success... which with all my humbleness I bow in front of God... I owe all my suceess to the Almighty.....

When I turned 25, I directed a movie for which I had written the script... The Movie was entitled 'Still Single', it not only rocked the nation, but went international and I won several awards for that....not to mention the controversies I had to face because of that film.. it dealt with a bold subject.. which I will tell u later...