Bengali beauty Shirin Guha is all set to debut in Bollywood with Vikramaditya Motwane's Lootera. The model-turned-actress speaks to Sreya Basu on her latest project and more

How did you bag Lootera?
The casting director Atul Mongia is a friend. He called me for an audition of a Bengali girl's character. That time I was studying in FTII (Film and Television Institute of India). Atul had seen my pictures in Bengali avatar earlier. I went, gave the audition and they liked it. Later I got short-listed and finally got to know that am selected ... Sounds quite a cake walk eh?

With whom were you more comfortable on the sets - Ranveer Singh or Sonakshi Sinha? Why?
In fact both. Most of the scenes I have is with Sonakshi. So naturally I spent more time with her. Both of them are extremely down to earth, always with a welcome smile on their faces and very, very co-operative.


Share an interesting incident from your shooting days.
We use to shoot in a haveli during the Kolkata schedule. It was a huge haveli and almost 150 years old. As any old fort or haveli has its own set of gossips and rumors, so did this one too. As per the rumors there was a room in the haveli on the terrace which was haunted.

I was dying to visit that room but not alone off-course. So Vidushi (the thirrd assistant director) and me teamed up and went to the terrace. It was pitch dark that night and both of us were already scared, but didn't want to show it to each other.

So suddenly before reaching the room we started to say to each other chalo chalo kuch nahi hain dekhne ko, itna andhera hain.. kuch nahi hain chalo chalo and we left without entering that room. That was so hilarious, we both were scared and we both were consoling each other and saying the same things at the same time.

Did you always want to be an actress?
I remember the school days where we are asked to write an essay on the subject `My Aim`. I always used to write `I want to be an actor`.

The teacher used to laugh or smirk and my friends used to taunt me. But my aim was very firm from those days.. Acting is a thing that always fascinated me. I have even done my graduation and post graduation in acting itself.

My father (Sanjiban Newton Guha) is also an actor in Bengal. I even share my birthday with Audrey Hepburn. This co-incident later on made me realize that perhaps I'm destined to be an actor only ... I can't be anything else but an actor.


Who is your inspiration as an actor?
My first inspiration off course is my dad. I use to watch him on television and in films since my childhood days. So he is my first inspiration. There are a number of great actors who inspire me a lot. Elizabeth Taylor, Meryl Streep, Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Amitabh Bachchan, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Rani Mukherjee.. phew ... the list is quite long!

What are your other interests?
Creative writing. Very few people know that I have been a journalist with ABP group, also been a script writer for ZEE. I love writing. Also dance, mimicry and clowning fascinate me a lot. I love painting and puppetry too.

How much scope do you think newcomers from non-filmy background have in Bollywood?
For a person with no filmy background it's a real tough journey. You need to earn each and everything on your own. But if one is hard working, then with a combo of good luck and guts Bollywood is all yours!


What are your other projects?
Said no to a few and some are in the talking terms, don't want to hurry because slow and steady is my mantra.