Enjoying living life backwards: Waluscha De Sousa

Life comes full circle for this gorgeous Goan lady. From doing a commercial at the age of 18 with Shah Rukh Khan to acting opposite him as heroine at 32 in Fan, Waluscha De Sousa has taken the road less travelled. The actress, who has been part of a lot of modelling assignments and ad shoots, was in Chennai recently, for the launch of ABC  clinic.

While most of the actresses tend to debut at a very young age, Waluscha’s foray into the industry as a lead actress happened only at 32. “Debuting late has not been easy. But things have started changing and women can play age-appropriate roles. It’s a great time to be in the industry. I am keen to work with some great directors like Anurag Kashyap, Homi Adajania, and Hansal Mehta. Nowadays, roles are not being written only for 19 and 20-year-olds,” says the  actress.

She states that debuting with Bollywood’s biggest superstar has opened up a lot of avenues in her career — “This film happened when my casting director told me that they had been searching for someone for a long time, and things just fell into place. Doing the film has opened many doors; people recognise me overnight, and it has set high standards given that it was a Yashraj and Shah Rukh Khan film.”

She was once the face of many brands, and her comeback has seen her walk the ramp with many designers. “I took a sabbatical post-marriage because life took me on a different path. I enjoyed each moment, and now I am here with a newfound energy, living life backwards. Girls usually focus on their career first and then settling down, but I got married at 20 so everything worked out backwards for me.”

Any setbacks due to not being from a film background? “When you don’t have a filmi background, self-help and hard work is important. You cannot give up on yourself however hard it gets. Everyone has their own personal struggle, even the ones who come from a cinema background.  There will be struggles and the journey will be tough, but you must never give up and work harder.”

Though Waluscha says that there are a few interesting offers in the pipeline, but can’t talk about them yet. “I will make an announcement when it’s confirmed. For now I’m focusing only on films and not returning to modelling. I want to break the stereotypes associated with a married woman doing films,” she muses.

Waluscha, who is a big fan of actor Mahesh Babu, adds that she is very much interested in the South Indian film industry. “To be frank, it has been the main point of focus for me. I love the vibrancy of the songs and dances in Tamil films.  Moreover, the way the industry works, their ethics, and how they take care of their crew is quite amazing. I’m hoping for opportunities in the near future,” she reveals, adding, “I’m open to doing different roles — be it romance or action, and if it is an AR Murugadoss film, it would be a double dhamaka! He is my favourite director down south.”