The damsel in distress that she played in Mohit Suri’s Kalyug could not be more far drawn from what Smilie Suri is like in real life. She prays at the drop of a hat, true, but “I would never commit suicide!” exclaims the Mumbai girl.

All said and done, it was a role that she had to earn for herself. “When I was assisting Mohit with Zeher, Mahesh Bhatt and he were discussing the heroine that they had in mind for Kalyug. ‘It has to be someone like Smilie’ they would keeping saying, but Mahesh Bhatt said I would have to prove myself worthy of the role”.

That translated to Smilie spending long hours on the sets of films, watching other actors and perfecting the art of make up, apart from observing the goings on behind the scenes of films. “Knowing what happens behind the camera helps you understand what is expected of you when you are in front of it,” she has observed.

Luck also had something to do with her stint in Kalyug. “The film was titled Blue Film initially owing to which a lot of actors backed out from playing the female lead. That only made it easier for me to land the role,” reminisces Smilie who has trained under Sandip Soparrkar in Latino and Ballroom dance and was seriously contemplating entering the Olympics for dance, before Kalyug happened.

Once the high from her debut film died down, she spent eight months waiting for the right role to land in her lap, not submitting to pressure from directors or worrying about what her next step would be. “Breaking News came along. Many confuse it with It’s Breaking News. Let me clarify it once and for all, that the film I am in has been directed by N Chandra.

“It has a great star cast— Anupam Kher, Seema Biswas, Sarika, Rajpal Yadav, Parveen Dabbas, Perizad Zorabian, Rajat Kapur, Purab Kohli and Milind Gunaji. And it is yet to be released,” says Smilie of the film that revolves around five stories coming together eventually.  In this film, she plays the role of a Maharashtrian girl, Asha Ambedkar who works in a call centre. She has been cast opposite Purab Kohli.

Ask her about the competition that she faces in the industry and she smiles, “I compete only with myself. I cringe when I go back and take a look at my work in Kalyug. I’m constantly thinking of bettering myself .”

On the directors that she aspires to work with, she says, “I would have loved to be launched in the way that Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor are in Saawariya,” she gushes. “I hope to work with directors like Bhansali, Madhur Bhandarkar, Karan Johar and Mansoor Khan someday,” she adds.

The small screen is beckoning Smilie, but she is too happy with her film career to consider other options. Even dance has taken a backseat. “A cricketer can either play cricket or act in television commercials. I believe in doing only one thing at a time, and for now, I want to pursue films fulltime,” she signs off.