| gorato |
Posted
on 21-Apr-03 01:55 PM
Sudeshna Sarkar in Kathmandu
April 20. At 16, she took on the world. Five years later, shes set to take on Bollywood.
Jharana Bajracharya Rashid, former Miss Nepal and the first participant from the Himalayan kingdom to enter the Miss World contest, will come to Mumbai in June for the release of her debut Hindi film. Director Rajat Mukherjees Love in Nepal was shot in Pokhara, Nepal. The question is, has Bollywood found another Manisha Koirala? Besides Sonu Nigam and Flora from the south, Mukherjees suspense thriller casts Jharana, a known name in Nepals film industry, as second lead.
The tenth grader who took a break from studies to join the Miss Nepal contest for a lark found herself presented with the crown and the opportunity to represent her country in the Miss World 97 contest.
Though she didnt make it past the first round the title going to Indias Diana Hayden Jharana says she was not disappointed. It was the first time for us and we didnt have enough strategy or organisation, she said. Pitted against contestants from 84 countries, I lacked several things including my wardrobe, which was not up to the mark. I went to gain experience about the pageant and pass it on to others in my country who would take part after me.
This levelheadedness perhaps bagged her the role in Rajat Mukherjees film. A producer friend told me about it and I went to meet Rajat since I loved his films, like Road starring Antara Mali and Vivek Oberoi and Pyar Tune Kya Kiya. After a two-hour conversation, he offered me the role of Tanya.
So who gets Sonu Nigam, Flora or Tanya? Jharana is unwilling to reveal more. Its an experimental film and Sonu Nigam is not a typical hero. Neither is Jharana a typical heroine.
Her debut Nepalese film, Hatiyar, where she plays second fiddle to Kollywoods (Nepals film industry) reigning queen Karishma Manandhar, flopped. So did her second and third films. Its weird that I got offers even after that... Perhaps it was because the song sequences were well-liked. She is now busy completing her film Chahanchhu Mo Timilai (I want you) so that she can go to Mumbai in June. There were some more offers from Bollywood, she said, but they will be confirmed in July.
|
