'Playing a widow took guts'

Preeti Jhangiani is going places.

Playing a young widow in her first Hindi film was a risk she was quite happy to take.

It seems to have paid off. Because Preeti, post-Mohabbatein, has signed up quite a number of films with good banners.

For this 18-year-old model, success and fame are not new. Her music video with the Rajshris, Chui mui si, was a big rage. Her elfin face have graced a good number of commercials on TV.

Preeti has also acted in a Malayalam film, Mazhivillu, directed by Dinesh Babu. It was critically acclaimed, but didn't do too well at the BO.

Yes, while working on a contract for Aditya Chopra, she did miss out on a lot of interesting projects, including an offer by the showman Subhash Ghai himself.

But Preeti has no regrets. And, she tells Runima Borah Tandon, is looking forward to a great future in Bollywood:

Let's begin by what you learnt from your Mohabbatein experience.

I learnt a lot. I'll never regret doing the film.

I don't think anybody else (but Aditya Chopra) would have worked that hard on my look, voice, diction and on my dancing -- both Indian and Western.

I know for sure I wouldn't have looked my best anywhere else.

I loved my role in the film -- it was very difficult for my very first film. It required guts to play a widow.

I learnt from Adi that one must feel the shot, only then will it show on screen. And that one must sing the lines of a song while picturising it to make it seem natural.

Actually it's all about authenticity. If you are faking it, it will show.

Yashji has great taste for clothes. Amitji is gentlemanness personified, Shah Rukh is excitement. That's what made the sets so vibrant and motivated us to perform better.

You became famous with the Rajshri music video, Chui mui si. How come they didn't sign you on for their film?

I don't know. The music video I did with them was a tremendous hit. Neither they nor I expected it to be such a hit. It still remains one of their highest selling albums. Sooraj is right now working on his script.

He will take whoever suits his role best. I don't hold it against him.

You took a long break after Mohabbatein. Do you wonder if you might have missed out on good films because of it?

Yes, I missed out on a lot of South and a lot of Hindi films.

I did get a lot of offers, but I'm not sad that I missed out.

I'm happy for the break I got because I got a lot of training. I'm totally prepared now for all the other films that I have signed. As an actress, where do you pick up your inspiration from?

I get very inspired when I see actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi, their range of emotions and the different types of roles that they portrayed so effortlessly.

Sridevi is my all-time favorite. She is a tremendously gifted actress.

What are your forthcoming films?

I'm doing a film for Venus, which will be directed by Sameer Malkan. There is another one with Pahlaj Nihalani, opposite Fardeen Khan. Then there is A G Nadiadwala's film with Sunil Shetty, Akshay and Aftab, which will be directed by Vikram Bhatt.

And then I'm doing Mahesh Manjrekar's film opposite Bobby Deol.

So you are not particularly selective about the films that you would be doing?

No. I feel it's extremely important to be selective. It is important to be identified with good films.

I've refused so many offers because I felt they were not right for me.

I'm trying to do as many different roles as I can because the one I played in Mohabbatein was very Indian and traditional. I'm trying to change it.

The role I have in the Venus film is totally different. It's very Western. I'm comfortable doing both.

I'm a normal 18-year-old girl. I want to show the audience that I can do those kind of roles as well.