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| Edited By: Chaya Unnikrishnan |Source: DNA |Updated: Sep 30, 2018, 06:05 AM IST
Afghanistan-born Warina Hussain has grown up on both Bollywood and Hollywood movies, but she decided to try her luck in Hindi cinema. She came to India and started modelling for print ads and commercials before she took to acting. And now, she is all set to make her debut in Salman Khan Films’ LoveYatri alongside Aayush Sharma. Here, the newbie talks about bagging her debut project and Dabangg Khan’s advice to her.
I am counting the days and as the date is nearing, I am thinking about the first day of release. The thought uppermost in my mind is logon ko kaisa lagegi. We have worked on the product for one year and now we’re putting it out there. Examwali feeling hai and I’m waiting for the results!
I have been a model for the past six years and when I shifted to Mumbai in 2014, I started doing print ads and commercials. I thought of getting into acting and trained in the Mumbai branch of The New York Film Academy. I also did a couple of workshops and learnt Bollywood dancing. I got to know about the auditions of LoveYatri and that’s when my life took a huge turn.
While I don’t have any filmi connection, I have never thought about these things. I have what he has — the attention, the care they provide, etc. We are getting launched together and the makers never made me feel it is Aayush’s launch. In fact, they have always said it is an Aayush, Warina and Abhiraj (Minawala, director) launch. There is a plus point debuting with other newcomers. All of us put in our 100 per cent, we were open to each others’ ideas and were walking through the journey of LoveYatri hand-in-hand. Also, when Salman sir tweeted my picture, it was trending. Everybody knew my name and started following me on Instagram. I think we are all on the same platform.
Aayush obviously had on-field training of four years (he assisted on films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan, 2015 and Sultan, 2016). I had experience in front of the camera, but despite doing workshops I underwent a training process of six months. I used to go for Scooty driving classes, acting workshops and learn ballet since my character is a ballet dancer. After that we would rehearse the scene again and do the reading with Abhiraj sir. I also had to go to classes for Hindi diction. But learning garba was the most challenging part because I’m not a formally-trained dancer.
Salman sir was shown the rushes after we finished the Gujarat schedule. I was not there when he saw them, because I am scared of watching my work. There’s a huge critic in me and even on the sets, I am constantly thinking, did I say this dialogue correctly, am I looking fine? But Salman sir said all the three of us had surpassed his expectations. After that I became a little more confident. Also, if he likes your work he just shows a thumbs- up. He has been advising and guiding me about my career, life and a lot of things. But the one close to my heart is when he told the three of us that we should put our heart, soul and mind into this project as the film will decide our future and career. It shows that he sees the three of us in the same light.
Yes, I can understand even better. However, I needed to work on the diction. I have to tell you a funny incident that happened at the beginning of the shoot. Since Aayush and Abhiraj had seen my introduction video, in which I said I am from Afghanistan, they thought I didn’t know Hindi. So, they were discussing among themselves, “Yeh toh gori (foreigner) hai, Hindi bol payegi?” After sometime Aayush came to me and asked me, ‘Do you need anything? I told him, ‘Diet coke milega?’ He was shocked that I knew Hindi (laughs).
