As told to Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 15, 2020)

I always wanted to be an actress, but I had no clue how to go about it as no one in my family was even remotely related to the film industry. All I had was lots of confidence and that’s what got me noticed when I was a 15-year-old schoolgirl, performing at our annual day function. Producer Salim Aftab, whose child was in the same school, was in the audience and noticed me. He was scouting for a leading lady for his film, Chand Sa Roshan Chehra, and offered me the role. I was surprised since I was just a kid, but I reckoned that I looked older than my years; which is probably why he approached me. It was hard convincing my parents as I was in the middle of my schooling, but once they agreed, they were very supportive. Had they insisted I complete my education first, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I have achieved.

For my first shot, I had to play a violin. Obviously, I didn’t know how, but I behaved like a pro, making funny sounds to look more convincing. The shot was okayed in the first take, but I was aware they were just being nice to me.

After this film, I did a commercial that was hugely popular and brought a lot of offers from down South. I loved the camera and so was willing to learn any language. I started with Tamil, then Telugu. So, by the time Himmatwala happened, I had done several films in South.

A day before my birthday, I had a photoshoot scheduled with Ajay (Devgn) sir. I was really excited for it, but when he was there before me, I was intimidated. Those eyes were intense; he was so serious. But when we started talking, he was really sweet. In our first shot together, in the good old ’80s tradition, I had to tie a cloth around his hand which he had cut trying to save me. It was my first proper Hindi film and I was really nervous. But in the little time we spent together, Ajay sir turned out to be a chilled-out co-star with a mischievous sense of humour. It took almost a month to break the ice, but after that it was smooth sailing.