Taking things in her stride

Pinning hope

She’s had a long wait. But Sonal Sehgal, the lead actress of Nagesh Kukunoor’s Aashayein, is as excited as she was when she first signed the film almost three years ago.

Aashayein, in which Sonal is romantically paired opposite John Abraham, was supposed to release at the end of 2008. But due to some problem with the film’s distribution rights, its release was delayed. It’s finally out in theatres now.

“I am just pouncing up the walls,” Sonal gushes to Metrolife. “It’s been a long wait but as they say, mehnat ka phal meetha hota hai (the fruits of hard work are sweet),” she smiles.

She remembers the day she signed the project. “After my last TV show Hotel Kingston went off air, I didn’t want to do television anymore as I found it extremely tiring. So I was at home for a while and I got a call to audition for Aashayein. I didn’t even know that the audition was for a lead role. I just wanted to be associated with Nagesh as I am a huge fan of his.”

But when she didn’t get a definite answer after three auditions, Sonal was a bit dejected.

“I was driving back after the third audition when I got a call from Nagesh himself,” she says excitedly. “He told me I was selected and asked me to sign the contract. I was already halfway home and asked him if I can return the next day. He said he would be returning to Hyderabad the next day, so I had to reverse my car and rush through Mumbai’s traffic,” she laughs. 

The pretty actress plays the role of Nafisa in Aashayein. “Nafisa is a loving, doting girlfriend, who stands by her guy come what may. She is his pillar of strength.”
Sonal says she is nothing like Nafisa is real life! She laughs, “When my friends saw the trials of the film, they were in for a shock. They couldn’t believe it was me as I am so hyper in reality.”

Sonal can’t stop praising her good looking co-star John Abraham. “He is so humble and punctual. He would always turn up way before time and even rehearse his lines without throwing any tantrums.”

Due to the delay in Aashayein’s release, Radio and Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai ended up being Sonal’s first two films. Does she have any regrets that Aashayein couldn’t be her debut film? “Not at all,” she denies. “Whatever happens, happens for the best. Come to think of it, I never thought I’d be in Bollywood in the first place.”

Sonal would love to work with directors like Farhan and Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and Anurag Basu, Madhur Bhandarkar, Sudhir Mishra to name a few. She is a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan. “But I haven’t got an opportunity to meet him so far,” she laments.

She admires Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vidya Balan as well. “Vidya is a friend of mine as I assisted director Pradeep Sarkar during Parineeta. She is supremely talented and yet so humble.”

Sonal hasn’t signed any other film for now. “I want something equally good to come my way,” she explains. “Because cinema never dies. It’s there forever so I’d like to work in memorable films.”