|
By Abigail Rodricks Š2004 Bollyvista.com |
She always wanted to be a writer. She never believed she had the face for an actor. But destiny had other plans for Mandira Bedi, and she found herself playing the pivotal part in Doordarshan's first daytime soap, 'Shanti' ten years ago. With the Cricket World Cup came 'Extraa Innings' and Mandira Bedi was no longer just another actress. People loved her, people hated her but one just couldn't ignore her. She even had a column in a popular daily dedicated to rate the clothes she wore on the show. Undaunted, this die-hard cricket fan has now delved further into the world of cricket by taking up the cause of the WCA. She's out to prove that when it comes to cricket you just have to take her seriously.
"I started acting on television exactly 10 years ago. I started with 'Shanti', which got massive ratings on Doordarshan. They exported it to many places, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, etc. Then came 'Aurat', followed by 'Dushman', followed by 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'. Apart from that, I had done a small role in 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'. Then came 'Extraa Innings', for which I had to work really hard. I can't say that I've done ten thousand projects. I have always done only one project at a time but the journey has been very eventful. I have never had to run after anything. And God has been extremely kind to me because I was never out of work or off-air. At any point of my career, I have been on air somewhere, somehow, on some channel. And this is very important for anybody in the media," says the laidback actress.
Her career had moved at non-frenzied pace, till the Cricket World Cup turned her placid world topsy-turvy. "The world Cup was the best thing to ever happen to me. It turned my life around. It has been a turn around of image and a turn around in the kind of work being offered to me," she gushes. Though Mandira may never have thought of the repercussions when she accepted the job, she is the first to admit that she received a lot of flak. "There were a lot more brickbats than bouquets. The good thing was that I was away from it all; sitting in South Africa and the people at Sony shielded me from all the stuff I didn't have to hear. I knew that I was doing a really bad job to begin with. I had a whole of excess baggage in my head. That was when I really started thinking that this was cricket and in India it was religion. Moreover the whole world was watching, etc. etc. All that affected my performance initially." But once she decided she was there to enjoy herself, she made sure she did and none of those uncomplimentary news articles or sms jokes mattered too much.
|
SEARCH
