The lure of Sandalwood

There’s been a plethora of aspiring actors from Mumbai, who’ve surged to Sandalwood to kick off their cinematic careers. Another addition to the bunch of these talented lasses who have entered the Kannada film industry is the gorgeous Saloni Khanna, who will make her debut in Geleyana Gelathi. The actress stars opposite Prabhu Mudkar and Akshay Kishore in the film.

Ask her why she chose a Kannada film to make her debut and she narrates, “It so happened that the industry chose me. I was working in theatre in Mumbai when I auditioned for the film there. I was then called to Bengaluru for a detailed audition and they wanted to see if I can pick up Kannada. They wanted me to speak in Kannada and made me do different types of scenes, and in a couple of weeks, they offered me the film. We just got done with the shoot.”

Geleyana Gelathi will see Saloni play a young girl from a nice, cultured family. A romantic comedy, the movie will portray the story of a girl who falls in love and what she does when things don’t work out. “It’s about how she transforms into somebody who she wasn’t earlier and finds love again. Anyone who’s young and in love will be able to relate to it,” she smiles.

Before entering cinema, Saloni was doing short films and has recently shot for various web series including Cold Lassi Aur Chicken Masala, directed by Pradeep Sarkar and Naik Rikers. “As for movies, I haven’t signed anything else. I hope the release of my film brings good work my way. I’ve enjoyed working in the Kannada industry and people here were very nice. I also visited a lot of places in and outside Bengaluru, including Nandi Hills. I got a chance to explore the food, and the weather was amazing. It’s definitely a city I’d stay in, given the chance,” confides the actor, who’s yet to catch up on watching Kannada films. “I’ve seen other language films. But when I was in Bengaluru, I spent time learning the language. My director and producer would coach me and teach me when I didn’t know how to pronounce certain words, send me audio notes, songs, etc,” she says.

Saloni states that she’d like to work with scripts which are young and relatable and is open to working in other languages too. “There’s a lot of talent out there, so we should be grateful for what comes our way,” says the artiste, who’s a trained classical dancer. “I’m trained in Kathak. I spend most of my time rehearsing, dancing and performing. I also love to travel and take off to destinations when I get the chance. I even spend my time with some NGOs I’m associated with,” she says.