Monica Dogra sees herself as an art activist

There’s no contesting that Monica Dogra is super talented. Her voice has fans dancing across the country, her acting prowess managed to impress Mr Perfectionist (aka Aamir Khan) himself and the TV show she hosted managed to wake up a myopic TV audience with its sheer original content. Versatile as she might be, the extremely attractive performer sees herself as an art activist. And staying true to her ‘art activist’ label, Monica Dogra’s signed herself up as brand ambassador of the Women in Music festival that will be held in the national capital this month.

The festival, we are told, will provide female deejays from all over the world an opportunity to showcase their musical prowess through live performances, over five days.

At a time when women in the performing arts want to be recognised for their talent and achievements — gender be damned — a festival dedicated only to women artistes seems like an anomaly. “In 2012, the gender of a musician shouldn’t matter much,” agrees Monica, yet she avers that, “the idea of the festival is to create platforms for more female musicians to perform.” And is that the reason why she agreed to take on the mantle of being a brand ambassador? “I have always wanted to create a global platform for musicians,” Monica asserts and adds, “I have always used whatever media attention I can get to create awareness around causes and subjects I believe in.”

Insights aside, we shift focus to the upward trajectory her career has taken. So, from being referred to as one half of Shaa’ir + Func to being recognised as Shai, her character in Dhobi Ghat, the multi-talented NYU graduate has come a long way since 2005. And she admittedly is happy. “I am very happy, very grateful for it all,” she says, adding another interesting perspective, “but the funny thing is you never feel progress in transit; it just hits you suddenly where you go, ‘Oh my gosh! I have done a lot of what I wanted to do.’”

Looking ahead, Monica has her plate full with music and movies keeping her busy. “I am going to be working on the fourth album of Shaa’ir + Func and we’ve been touring full time,” she says. On the movies’ front, Monica reveals, “I have just finished shooting for Fireflies, directed by Sabal Shekawat, and I will be shooting in July for David, Bejoy Nambiar’s movie.”

Before wrapping up, there’s one last question — about The Dewarists that pushed her into the collective conscience of the music-loving, TV-surfing nation. Can we expect a second season? Unwilling to reveal much, she merely states, “I can’t confirm anything but it (a second season) is in consideration.”