WELCOME TO THE DAWN: AMRITA ARORA

By Fuad Omar.

Amrita Arora is about to be huge. Her debut film is almost ready for release and she's a bundle of positive energy, looking like a glowing light bulb rather than someone who should be tired after completing her first film. I first met her at a party where it was too dark to make out who exactly she was and the only impression I got was that she was rather short. Today when I meet Amrita Arora, I realise it must have been really dark at the party and she must have been sitting down. She welcomes me into the plush residence where family photos adorn the table tops and you're not allowed in unless you're smiling, because after you meet her you definitely will be.

Wearing a white tee and denims, with hair that looks ruffled, yet sits neatly below her shoulders like intertwined black and brown silken threads woven together to complement her beautiful face and deeply reflective eyes, she sits comfortably and offers me a drink to combat the rising temperature in the Mumbai heat. After exchanging a few words it's clear we are getting on like old friends and the Dictaphone runs as we chat to the nines about her journey to the place where she is today, sitting with a smile on the fence that has 'SUCCESS' painted on the other side, biding her time with glee.

Rather than ask the nymphet of niceness about her background and the rest, I felt from our brief conversation prior to hitting record she's done so much at such a young age that it's more a journey which has led her to where she is now, and this too is the end of one phase and the first step of another journey, so I ask her to tell me when her achievements started, and she takes me on her travels with her as she beams that smile of hers and reminisces about her beginnings.
"It all started waaay back when I was in school and college," she says with a sparkle in her light brown eyes. "There have been achievements of sorts like winning debates, elocution and competing on an intercollegiate level, and when I started college I won the VJ Hunt, which is pretty big over here. They auditioned many people from Madras, Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai and they had the final round here where they wanted to select four new people and introduce them onto MTV. There were hundreds of people who auditioned and I was lucky enough to come in the first twelve and even luckier to have finally won it. That's really where the story starts, and I was a VJ with MTV and that's where the journey began. It was really exciting and nice but overnight you're thrown into this situation where you have to survive and you meet a lot of people, travel and broaden your horizons. Then like any other girl in India, her sights are always set on the world of Bollywood!" she says barely able to contain her ecstatic enthusiasm.

"I guess it was a natural move for me," she continues, "because I was always getting a lot of offers and it was just a matter of timing for me and being in the right place at the right time. Mr Mehul Kumar was watching TV and was on the look out for a new girl for his film, and was looking for someone fresh and to suit his character, doing justice to the role he wanted to portray and he saw me on MTV and wanted to meet me. I walked into the office, signed the film and we began shooting, almost have now completed the film and the rest is history! I left MTV and began a new journey, and it's been really fun, I've met a lot of people and the whole experience has been completely overwhelming."

Amrita is still smiling and it's becoming infectious. I can't help but feel happy for her and amazed at how fast and so young she has achieved so much, and so it's now my turn to beam at her and ask along this journey of the last few years, which have been her favourite stops.
"The wild times, masti, masala at college is definitely the first! Just what goes with being a teenager thrown into the whole college life scenario and trying to fit in, I love that! The next stop would be MTV because it was the first time I realised I really want to be successful in what was given to me, and I wanted to not only survive and be one of the many, but just be The One. That phase of my life that made me realise I had an identity of my own that was separate to being Malaika's sister or just being the sister-in-law to the reputed Khan family, it was a time I'd consider my calling or becoming. That was definitely one of my favourite stops."

The becoming of Amrita Arora. I like it. Before I can wonder why my life has passed relatively slower than the Amrita Express train, she picks up my thoughts telepathically and says:
"And this stop wasn't really a stop because it's still going on, the rail-gaari is still chook-chooking right through my life!" she says letting out a burst of laughter.

By now she has me. I am totally immersed in her sweet charms and now know who to call for a dosage of happiness and laughter, should I start missing London too much. She moves on to telling me about how the journey has been a learning experience - of not only modelling in front of the camera but also the way things work behind the camera, using the time to pick up new skills that she feels could better her now and in the future.
"It's been great because it's like travelling. While my friends are all still studying I'm moving from one place to another and I'm just enjoying it, it's like a high. It's like I've been given this opportunity and I just want to do the best I can."

She shifts in her chair as I take a breather from watching this girl literally grow in front of me through the journey she has narrated to me in the past half hour. Now she has reached another stop, I ask her to remember her very first shot for her movie, Kitne Door Kitne Paas, on hearing which, she bursts out laughing once again. Moments later, attempting to compose herself, she recounts the story of her first day shooting.
"My first day was a simple scene in a police station where all I had to do was react to my co-star Fardeen's dialogue, which was really easy. Now the next day we started filming a song, and you know how our songs are. There were loads of people and it suddenly hit me that 'here I am about to be on 70mm, shooting a film and this is really larger than life!' Now we were to shoot what is the most intimate moment of the song, and it scared the hell out of me. I was really embarrassed and had to do it in front of this janta, my producer and director and was just not getting it right, and they were really patient because after three takes I still wasn't getting it right. After the eighth take I was so upset that I ruined my make up because I was literally bawling thinking 'what is this, why is this happening!' and Fardeen was being really co operative and said let's ease off and give her some easy stuff to start with. But we pulled it off, because he spoke to me in a corner and said 'don't think of anyone out there and no one can do this like you, you're gonna be the best' and basically a pep talk, and it worked. I went out there and I kicked ass!"

As if on cue, she squeals into further reams of laughter and by now you can literally feel the positive vibe this girl has and how wonderfully happy she is.
"So that was my first day, there were tears, there was anger, there was everything and it really opened me up for the rest of the schedule so much so that there was no stopping me after that!"

We talk some more and her excitement grows with each breath. During her travels she has had a beginning, a becoming and now a personal dawn. I ask if she can see her destination and what it is she wants to achieve.
"My goal is to be the best at my craft and master the profession I have chosen, and I'm willing to work my ass off to get there. I want to achieve the dreams I have and reach the materialistic goals I have set for myself because for me that's an achievement and that's it I guess, then one day to settle down and have kids."

This spurs off us joking about what her kids will be like given her ultra cool image and youthful lingo, imagining them to be born in denims, donning shades and pointing to get people's attention with a Yo!. By now I think the maid must think we've gone mad, but it's ok, it's just the wonderfully mad world of Amrita Arora.

The topic shifts to London as she keenly absorbs my rantings about the Queen, Blair and British weather, latching onto my every word, and before I know it I'm sitting amidst an avid lover of London, who enthusiastically lets me know what she thinks of the place I'm starting to miss. "I LOVE LONDON!" she exclaims with glee. "I love everything about that place! The buzz, the shopping, the weather - I know people hate the weather but I love it, the monarchy and London is just so classy, it spells class and spells life. I know people are in awe of America and it's larger than life, but it's also very intimidating. For me, London has it all and it has SO many Asians there that you feel like you're at home away from home. The Indians there have kept their culture and their values and they're living the same life as here except in a much more beautiful place."

She knows her stuff and talks from experience, having been a prominent person backstage at the Millennium Masti show two years back. I marvel at how much she knows of my hometown despite never having lived there for a long period of time, and I pick up that this is another of her many skills: to make the most of all she does and gain the maximum from every experience. As a common friend calls to announce her arrival, we decide to wrap up and ask her to say something to the people reading. She looks down for a second, smiles and then slowly raises here eyes to meet mine. With the same positive vibe and bubbliness she says:
"Go and watch my film, a lot of hard work has gone into it and please appreciate it for what it is, try to look at it as objectively as possible and enjoy it!"

As we wait for her guest to arrive, we go on talking and discuss the film industry, the future and lots more, making me realise that there's so much more to this young angel than meets the eye. Her infectious chirpiness and simple smile have a charming quality that immediately draws your attention to her, and then her personality just steals your heart. The girl who I first met a few nights ago and thought was rather short is destined for big things, because good things happen to good people. And where Amrita is concerned, I'm certain she'll be ranked among the best. Keep watching the sky, a bright star is about to shine.