JOIN USWith movies like Nautanki Saala!, Main Tera Hero and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in her kitty, along with her own charity foundation, actor Evelyn Sharma is content with the way her life has shaped up. Ahead of her initiative’s third garage sale on October 4 at Olive Bar & Kitchen in Bandra, Mumbai, she tells Shweta Sharma about her journey into the world of entertainment, and how she gets bothered about not being able to have a private life.
Excerpts:
When did your stint with acting begin?
I grew up in Germany and always had a love for theatre. Throughout my high school and college I was on stage. When I was 17, I got cast in an American movie “Turn Left” and got to experience shooting for a film for the first time. But I never believed that acting would be a career option for me. After college I started working in different charity organisations around Europe, and even worked for a law firm. In 2003, I was discovered as a model and suddenly started travelling around the world, finally ending up in India six years ago. I signed up a big beauty brand endorsement and the TV advertisement became popular. From there, movie offers started coming in and now I am starting my 12th film project.
Did you always want to become an actor?
I feel blessed the way my life has shaped up. I live my dream career and was able to start my own charity foundation, Seams for Dreams, too. I couldn’t be happier and more satisfied with my life today at 30. It’s better than I ever imagined.
You recently ventured into singing with Something Beautiful. What is the song about?
One of my greatest passions is writing. I write songs, scripts, poems. Something Beautiful was one song I wrote, and my friend Brooklyn Shanti, who is a well-known producer in New York, was enticed by the words and asked me to sing it when he composed the music to it. I have a few more songs with him which we plan to
release soon.
You have mostly done glamorous roles. Do you feel the industry has typecast you?
I don’t think I have been typecast. However, my most popular movies like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Main Tera Hero and Yaariyan were mostly NRI and comic roles. My favourite genre is comedy, maybe that’s why I am most successful in it. I always like to try something new, but I would also love to do more of the same kind
of roles.
Your upcoming projects?
I am currently shooting for my film with Amit Sadh. It’s a light relationship drama. As the lead actor you always have more scope for performance, so you will see more of my acting. I play a young girl from the fashion industry in the film, and I feel it’s very close to my own journey in India.
Besides this, I have an item song releasing soon, which is my first.
So many new actors trying their luck in Bollywood, how does one stand out?
I don’t believe in luck. Be prepared, grab the opportunity and go with your gut instinct. Some will be successful, some won’t. But if you don’t try, you have already
given up.
What is most challenging about being an actor in Bollywood?
Lack of privacy is the most challenging. The press may not intrude much, but the Mumbai society does and it makes having a private life, or simply falling in love, quite difficult. And I really want to fall in love; I have been single for too long.
Tell us about your charity initiative?
Seams for Dreams uses love for fashion to give back to humanity. We take your old clothes donations to distribute them to people in need. Our mission is to clothe more than 1,00,000 people in need across India this year.
What makes us different to other clothes based NGOs is that we also take high end fashion, celebrity clothes, movie costumes and designer wear. These are sold exclusively at garage sales in support of our mission.