SHE'S UNSTOPPABLE

Malaika Arora is living under the arc lights and loving it - because when you love what you do, there can't be any good reason to stop

- MEHERNAAZ DHONDY

"I want to be able to do better than what I did yesterday. To be better than what I was last year. There is constant thirst, want, and need to just be better. I'm not someone who can stagnate - I can't ever T see myself that way-no matter what, I need to wake up, put in the hard work, and I need to just be better than it was yesterday. That's what drives me. I wake up every morning thinking of what I'm going to do today. I need a challenge - if I don't have that purpose, life is dull." 

It's clear that work is Malaika Arora's tour de force. To add some current context, she's been powering through shooting for her TV commitments, despite being unwell over the past couple of days, including showing up at our March cover shoot. Her vocal cords may have been down and out, but she owned the space in front of the camera like the seasoned pro she is. The fact is that Arora is, quite literally, a workaholic, and she jumps straight into explaining her main hustle. "I'm at my prime, and at a time in my life where I'm enjoying everything around me. I have so much energy." It doesn't take a lot to figure out her superpower. "I just don't tire very easily. Very rarely will you hear me say I'm exhausted - I can just keep going."

Arora has been on the shop floor since the 90's and she's tried it all, at different stages in her life and varied moments in her career. Opportunities, she says, come and go, but you have to be hungry and strike when they come your way. "Sometimes when they knock on your door you don't even realise it, but I'm always up for experimenting.