Teena Singh: Dark and delightful

You might already recognise her from numerous commercials on TV and magazines. From being a bartender and event manager to aspiring model, and now finally, actor, she’s come a long way indeed! Though she did a cameo in Fitoor earlier, it is with the A.R. Murugadoss flick Akira, that the gorgeous Teena Singh will make her full-fledged screen debut. But that’s not the only thing on her radar — she’s also part of season 2 of the Netflix sci-fi TV series Sense8, developed by none other than the Wachowkis!

“Yes, it is a very interesting show, and obviously I’m thrilled to have worked in a project that has been conceptualised by the creators of the Matrix trilogy. I had an amazing experience being part of an international film set — indeed, my biggest takeaway from it was how much dignity of labour is appreciated — even if it is an actor playing a small role,” gushes Teena, adding that the season would premiere sometime in August.

But now, back to Akira, where the dusky actress will lock horns with the film’s protagonist Sonakshi Sinha in a breakthrough ‘college bully’ role. “Haha, yeah, I play the strong and silent type who has a bunch of cronies and orders them around — they later all get beaten up by Sona in a series of pulsating fights! From college, the storyline moves onto a police case and bigger problems happening to the titular character. Sonakshi was such a delight to work with, and went out of her way to be nice to me… it made the whole journey more memorable,” she recalls.

As for A.R. Murugadoss, she’s all praise for him — “You know, while filming, he doesn’t really talk or react much, so I actually went upto him a few times to check if I was doing okay. He replied that I passed all the tests in my audition itself, and that he trusted me to do my own thing! Akira is a remake of a Tamil film Mouna Guru, and I know that Murugadoss sir has a huge fan base down south. Even though I don’t understand Tamil, if he offered me a role in his next Kollywood flick… well, never say never!”

Teena, who’ll also be starring in the Indian version of 24 next season, has one main priority though after her entry into films — to break the obsession with fair skin in the industry. “I want to be the poster girl in the country to advocate dark skin — I know so many girls who are insecure about themselves due to their colour, and this has to change. Even during my shoots, I insist on my natural skin colour showing and not using Photoshop. I hope I can make a statement with my movies, and rewire how we are all programmed to think!” she concludes.