Director Kiran Rao wanted to cast a fresh face opposite Aamir Khan

As one of the pre-requisites for her directorial debut Dhobi Ghat, Kiran Rao wanted a fresh-face non-actor to star opposite Aamir Khan.

Her mind was set from the beginning to use a girl with no prior exposure to the industry.

Despite looking through hundreds of photographs and meeting several aspirants, she finally found Kriti Malhotra to star as Yasmin, while casually browsing on a social networking site.

Streak of luck

Explaining how she got the role, Kriti said, "I have been working with Aamir in the costume department for a few years. Acting was something I never thought about, as I have always been camera shy.

A friend involved with the film told me that Kiran had seen my photographs on Facebook and wanted me to audition, which made me nervous since I have no acting experience."

"On meeting Kiran, she told me that she had come across my profile, which happened to be the face she was looking for while looking through a friend's friend-list, " she said.

Working with Aamir

Working opposite Aamir Khan was a challenge.

"I have worshipped him over the years and to be in the same frame as him was a huge task. But he made me comfortable and soon I was relaxed throughout the shoot.

My parents are extremely excited for me, and I think this debut is a dream come true for any girl, " beamed Kriti. Prateek's Debut

The film will also mark a debut for yet another celeb kid Prateek Babbar " son of politician Raj Babbar and the late actress Smita Patil.