It is quite tough to lead a life of a supermodel and over the years we have seen many fade away without a trace. Nethra Raghuraman, who has been ruling the roost for years now, has certainly re-invented herself by dropping almost two sizes. The result — she is dropping jaws according to fashion industry pundits,
“The only thing that has ever beckoned me is modelling which happened in my life as a fluke. It is tough to survive for sure and that’s why you have to push yourself and body, I have slogged my butt off to better myself every single day. Being Tamilian, we have grown up on rice but I have not touched it all these years. I was on a no roti, no sweet and an only vegetable diet for about six months and it worked for me. I have dropped two sizes and people have noticed the difference,” Nethra tells us.
“Sometimes you need to reinvent yourself. Look at Diandra (Soares, who was written off by the fashion world as a has-been supermodel). She has shaved her hair off and no one can take their eyes off her now. Hats off to her. Many of my colleagues and seniors like Sheetal Malhar, Fleur Xavier, Tupur and Tapur Chatterjee and Nina Manuel among others chose to expand their horizons and do something else too. I have however decided that I will remain a model. I love to walk the ramp. It really excites me but as of now I’m not even thinking of hanging up my boots. With the kind of work I’m doing currently and the fact that I’m looking good, I have years to go,” she confidently says.
Talking about her latest TV show, Nethra says, “TV for me has always been a one-off thing. I never really looked to devote that much time that it affects my modelling career. Years back I did a show with Sanjay Suri. Then Fear Factor was a very significant show for me. The latest is my stint as host on National Geographic. It’s fun to host shows. I would love to do more of this.”
Nethra got a head-start in Bollywood with her being roped in for the acclaimed Bhopal Express on the Bhopal gas tragedy but she could not cash in on it. Says Nethra, “I don’t have any godfather in the industry and this place really works in ridiculous ways. As an actor my job can never be just acting and getting people to select me for my work. I literally had to hang around with people, seen with certain people and there’s a lot of PR which I frankly can’t handle. I, at one point of time, decided to not to give my new number to anyone. I honestly didn’t chase Bollywood too hard. I was very happy being a model.”
