Brand New BOMBSHELL

The vivacious RASHA THADANI takes life as it comes. The young debutante managed to juggle her studies with work when she was shooting for her debut film Azaad. She tells Shraddha Kamdar how she managed, and what she believes life holds for her

- Shraddha Kamdar

A few years ago, Rasha Thadani's routine looked like any other school-going teenager's - wake up, go to school, come back, attend tuition classes, eat, and sleep. It was a day like one you would expect a 17-year-old to have then. "One year before we started shooting, I was in school. In fact, during the shoot too, I was in school only. What am I saying?" she laughs as we settle down one January morning in Bandra, Mumbai.

As she enters our set in what she thinks of as her most comfy clothes - pyjamas - she greets everyone warmly before being taken through the shoot process, winning hearts with her smile and bubbly energy.

A FLYING START

A lover of the performing arts, a five- or six-year-old Rasha would always "fight" with her mother, the iconic actor Raveena Tandon, to send her to learn dance alongside school; she was willing to make time for it. "I remember turning on the TV and dancing to the songs, following whatever the actor was doing. I was about three or four then!" she enthuses.

Since the love did not seem to phase out, Rasha was sent to learn Kathak first, and, later, when she was about 10, she moved on to jazz and ballet. "At that time, singing and dancing, of course I did not know would translate to me becoming an actor," she says.

THE FIRST BREAK

Life changed when director Abhishek Kapoor met her mother at a party and asked if he could meet Rasha. All of 17, and prepping for her class 12 board exams, she landed up at the director's office and was completely unnerved by the posters that displayed his body of work. "I don't think Mom knew at that time that it was for a film and I toh was completely clueless. I saw all these posters of Kedarnaath and Kai Po Che! in his office and I was like, oh my god, now I'm scared!" she laughs as she recalls that moment.