A Karimi' C stroke of luck!

She’s got the look and comes across as charming. Iranian actor Mandana Karimi who was the runner up on Bigg Boss 9 recently and was seen in Bollywood movies like Roy, Bhaag Johnny, Main Aur Charles, Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3, besides many television commercials walked the ramp as the showstopper for Ramesh Dembla at the Bangalore Fashion Week on Thursday.

Talking about her journey from Iran to Bollywood, the actor who said she has come to Bengaluru a couple of times earlier for shoots and loves the city, says, “I went to the art school in Tehran and completed major in arts to study photography, graphic designing and painting. I wasn’t inclined towards the glam industry initially and was a shy girl who was happy colouring in my room. After college, I decided it was time to leave Iran. I dabbled with a few things  but soon  lost interest.  I did a photoshoot for a friend in Dubai and after that I think it was destiny calling. I was flooded with compliments and everyone said I was tall and slim and should try my luck in modelling.”

One thing led to another and soon she got a three-month contract in Mumbai. “I was getting assignments, ad commercials, shoots, print modelling and was making a lot of money. So, I kept coming back to Mumbai and Delhi and soon moved here. I liked the country, was getting work and decided to give acting a shot. So I enrolled into Barry John’s acting classes. It was a whole new world for me, but luckily one of the directors who didn’t cast me in her film, mentioned that Balaji was looking for an actor. I went to their office and was lucky that the entire team of Kya Kool was there. They liked me and Ekta Kapoor signed me up after the audition.” We wonder how the demure girl decided to act in a bold film, and she clarifies, “When I knew it was a sex comedy, I looked at it like a fun, entertaining film and being an actor one does their job. I gave audience what they want and if they like something like this, why not? After all, I’m an actor.” Talking of her television commercials alongside alongside Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor, she shares, “All of them were really sweet and I got a lot of positive energy from them. Also Tusshar Kapoor amd Aftab Shivdasani used to play pranks on the sets of Kya Kool and even after pack up I would keep waiting with make up and hair as they would tell me it wasn’t pack up and later have a good laugh. We had loads of fun on the sets. I’m now starting a new TV show soon and reading many film scripts.”