NO TV SERIALS FOR ME BECAUSE I WANT TO FOCUS ONLY ON FILMS NOW

Aamna ShariffAAMNA SHARIF tells JYOTHI VENKATESH in a telephonic chat that she does not like to play safe as an actress

In a telephonic chat on the eve of the release of her debut film Aloo Chaat, Aamna Sharif asserts that she believes in maintaining her exclusivity and hence wants to play it right, whether it is on TV or films, as an actress. When asked what made her say yes when she was asked to act in Aloo Chaat, Aamna states that it was the content of the script of Aloo Chaat that made her instantly say yes to the offer though she had been offered several film projects earlier before Aloo Chaat.

Aamna continues. “What I like about the film is that it has a totally a character driven subject. I play the role of a Muslim girl who is in love with Aftab Shivdasani in the film. Though it is a very light role, at the same time I’d say that it is also very challenging for me as an actress. My fans who have liked me in Kahin To Hoga expect a lot more from me than just looking very good on the screen. I am confident that I would not end up disappointing my fans when they come to watch me in Aloo Chaat".

Aamna is honest enough to confess that it was not difficult for her to get into the skin of her character in the film because she plays a Muslim girl, that too with her own name as the name of her character. “I play Aamna who is born and brought up in USA. She falls in love with a Hindu boy played by Aftab Shivdasani and what follows is a humorous roller coaster ride that will remind of you of scores of Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Basu Chatterjee kind of comedy films”.

Aamna adds. “To break the ice between the various actors of the film, director Robby Grewal conducted a workshop for almost a week. Considering the fact Aloo Chaat is a family drama, I should say that after the workshop was held, all of us actors could share a great chemistry with one another. I was fortunate enough to have been able to learn a lot by working with senior actors like Kulbushan Kharbanda, Aftab Shivdasani etc”.

If only she had wanted, Aamna says that she could have loved to make her debut with a hard core romantic film but decided to take up the offer of Aloo Chat when she decided to make her foray in Bollywood because she had never tried her hand at comedy earlier and her fans always had seen her doing serious roles and crying all the time when she was a part of the popular TV serial Kahin To Hoga. “As an actress, I have loved to take up challenges rather than play safe by doing roles which have mass appeal”, Aamna quips.

Aamna says that there is a lot of difference between films and TV. “Whatever I may be in my personal life, when it comes to delineating then role that I am asked to do on the screen, I have always been the kind of actress who believes in getting into the skin of the role that I do. As far as TV is concerned, you do not know anything about the graph of the character that you are playing because the track keeps on changing every now and then and even though you try to do justice to your character it does not always happen. However as far as films are concerned, you have the luxury of a bound script. The plus point of a film is that you are always bound to one character in a film, unlike in TV”.

Earlier Aamna was linked to Rajeev Khandelwal and now the media insists that she is seeing Aftab Shivdasani. Aamna retorts, “If I were a new comer, it would have bothered me if I were to see my name linked to every actor with whom I am working but today after having spend quite a few years on television I am no longer a new comer though I am new to Bollywood and I know how to take it with a bagful of salt. I am used to being linked by the media. I have always believed that my work should speak for me and not the so called media link ups”.

As an actress, Aamna is of the opinion that her plus point is that she wants to do different kinds of roles. “After Aloo Chaat, I have been signed to do a couple of more films, which will have me in entirely different characters. I have promised myself that I will always make it a point to see to it that no character of mine will be the same whenever I take up other films”.

Right now, Aamna does not want to take up any offer to work in any TV serial. “I like to concentrate only on one medium at a time. When I was doling Kahin Ho Hoga, I did not take up any other offer from TV serial makers as well as film producers. Now that I am keen on focusing on a career in films, I would not be taking up offers from TV serial makers.”

Does it mean that you are open to do reality shows? I ask her. Pat comes the reply, “No reality shows for me, please. I have always believed in maintaining my exclusivity as an actress and playing it right, whether it is on TV or films. Though I had received a lot of offers to be a participant or a judge in reality shows, I have steadfastly turned down all the offers”.

Aamna admits that there is a wrong perception that she is arrogant by the media. “I know that people often mistake me to be arrogant, because it is a fact that I am quite reserved by nature and do not open up easily, unless and until I know a person well. It did take me a lot of time to open up with Aftab as well as the other actors of Aloo Chaat but once the ice was broken, we had a blast. Considering the fact that I and Aftab( who we call Faffy) share the same star sign, we had a ball of a time on the sets” Sampurn Media

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