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FILM INTERVIEW: SONAL CHAUHAN

Versatile Actress Feels Groomed for Bollywood, Also Debuts Down South

By: Simran Mody

July 4, 2011

Sonal Chauhan on buzzinebollywood.com Models and Southie actresses do quite well in finding their way into Bollywood. For model-turned-actress Sonal Chauhan (Janaat), who just starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini in Puri Jagannadh's Bhuddah … Hoga Tera Baap and recently debuted in Tollywood (Telugu) and Sandalwood (Kannada), modeling does not have much value for female thespians.

Speaking to the Indian press in New Delhi before the release of Bhuddah … Hoga Tera Baap (which also stars Sony Sood, Prakash Raj, and Raveena Tandon, and opened opposite Aamir Khan’s Delhi Belly), the former Miss World Tourism (2005) said the only real value to modeling is it helps thesps like her become less camera shy.

“Modeling helps, in a way. It allows us to be comfortable in front of the camera,” Ms. Chauhan said. “One is confident and doesn't have to fear the camera or wonder what to do and how to do. So I think it is an advantage to be a model.”

Advantages, sure, but do not expect modeling to be the golden ticket to a favorable career in Bollywood, Ms. Chauhan says. Of course, with the right amount of effort and proper vision, a promising acting career in any of India’s top film industries (Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood) may definitely be in reach.

“Every actor has a journey to take, and they improve with time. They take time to explore,” she told reporters. “After spending good years in the industry doing varied roles, they know what they fit into. As a model, you too can explore and decide what you want to do.”

Then again, as in Ms. Chauhan’s case, luck and timing may have something to do with one’s lot in Bollywood. After all, her film debut in Janaat occurred only after director Kunal Deshmukh found her in a Mumbai restaurant. (Mariah Carey or Josh Duhamel, anyone?)

What made her “discovery” all the more interesting is she was not necessarily looking to be an actress...or so she says.

“Bollywood wasn’t on my mind, but I was always fascinated by Bollywood. So when I moved to Mumbai, I used to get on/off Bollywood offers, but nothing exciting 'til Kunal saw me, and within a few days, I got my first film project. It just happened,” Ms. Chauhan frankly told reporters.

While Bollywood may have “just happened,” Ms. Chauhan has been much more deliberate with other aspects in her life. Since debuting in Janaat, the former model and beauty queen worked on finishing school, and also found time to make specialized debuts down south in Tollywood (Telugu) and Sandalwood (Kannada).

Through it all, she is pleased to be returning to Bollywood and working opposite two of the industry’s biggest names in Mr. Bachchan and Ms. Malini.

“The very fact that I got to work with Big B at such an early age of my career is simply fantastic. I just hope that one day I get to work with him again,” she told reporters. “There was so much to learn from him -- he is not just a great actor, but a wonderful human being as well.”

With two other projects apparently on tap for her, Ms. Chauhan believes she may indeed be onto something big in Bollywood, what with such a diverse film resume under her belt before her 25th birthday. Rest assured, a day will come when many will look upon her career and realize it did not “just happen.”

Bhuddah … Hoga Tera Baap is an AB Corp production and officially opened worldwide on July 1st.