Who says miracles don’t happen in Bollywood?

Taniya Talukdar
This Delhi girl happened to be visiting Mumbai during her vacations. She also happened to be hanging around outside Prithvi Theatre, when destiny decided to stir her life into a brand new direction. That’s when director-actor Makrand Deshpande spotted Pritika Chawla.
“I never wanted to be an actor, especially, since I have seen my sister, who is a theatre actor, struggle through. But it was destined. Since the lead actor had backed out, Makrand was looking for a fresh face and offered  me the role of Lali in Shahrukh Bola Khubsoorat Hai Tu,” recollects Pritika. 
In fact, the audition took place right then and there, “next to a garbage dump,” laughs Pritika. “I was under prepared but Makrand helped me,” adds the young actor. And that worked to such an extent that Pritika recalls an interesting experience. “Once when I was waiting to give a shot, an elderly lady came upto me and said, ‘My maid has not come in today, can you come and help me please?’ to which I replied, ‘I’ll give the shot and come to help you’. The lady was very embarrassed,” she says. The high point, however, was meeting King Khan himself. “Meeting Shah Rukh Khan was surreal; it was like a dream come true,” says Pritika.
The young actor has already acted in two serials, Ladies Special and Mumbai Calling and is now working on her second film — Always Kabhi Kabhi.
t_taniya@dnaindia.net