Balancing films, homework and friends - 10-year-old shows how

MUMBAI: This 10-year-old carries school books to film sets and studies between shots. Swini Khara, the girl who shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan in "Cheeni Kum" and is now seen in "Hari Puttar", says she somehow manages to balance movies, homework and friends.

"It's not really that hard," Swini told IANS. "I agree I don't get to do the normal things girls my age do. But I enjoy what I'm doing."

As for time with friends and studies, Swini makes the required adjustments.

"I carry my books to the sets and study between shots. It's not that difficult. I've got used to it by now. I do get time for friends. But I do miss the time alone. And I do get tired. But my work is a lot of fun. I don't mind missing out on other activities," she said.

"Hari Puttar" is her latest release, which has 16-year-old Zain Khan playing the lead. For Swini, it was good to work with people nearer her age for a change.

"'Hari Puttar' was so much fun. In 'Cheeni Kum' I was working with people far older than me (Amitabh Bachchan, Zohra Sehgal and Tabu). In 'Hari Puttar', I had Zain Khan as my co-star. We had a ball, although I must say Sarika aunty and Jackie (Shroff) uncle were also a barrel of fun," the child actor said.

According to her, Zain grew from super-brat to solemn teenager during the making of the film.

"Because of the animation scenes, 'Hari Puttar' took a long time to make. In fact, I went to London in between for another film, came back and then shot again for 'Hari Puttar'," said Swini.

"Zain was very naughty when we shot the earlier portions. But as the film progressed, he grew older and became very serious. I liked that. I don't like doing too much masti (fun) on the sets."

Swini seems delighted by the vagaries of showbiz and is now looking forward to more work on her plate.

"I do my best. Recently I was shooting for a dance-based reality show and that was also fun. I'm doing one more film 'Kaalu' where I play the main role. And there's a witch chasing me throughout the film. Please see this film. It will scare the hell out of you. I get to do a lot of dangerous stunts in this film all on my own. There are rocks falling on me. But not to worry. The rocks were made of thermocol," she explained.

Swini was happy to meet her former co-star Amitabh Bachchan recently.

"I met Amit Uncle at an awards function. He was very sweet. I enjoyed playing Sexy in 'Cheeni Kum'. But now I've moved on to 'Hari Puttar'," she quipped.