"I was born in Mumbai in the illustrious Patel family. My Grandfather was the renowned lawyer-politician Barrister Rajni Patel who was the Congress Pradesh Committee President of Bombay. My grandmother is the most innocent human being I’ve known in my life. Ours is a true Indian multi-racial family. My dad is of Gujarati-Maharashtrian parentage and my mom’s a Sindhi, so we have the best of all the Indian culture and traditions.
Right from childhood, we were brought up in a traditional yet modern way. My brother and me have never indulged in firecrackers during Diwali, because of concern for the little children who work in the factories to produce them. Similarly, we were encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities. I was heavily into art, drawing, elocution, and debates. I won several awards in school and college. I was the Head Girl of my school and I’m very proud of the fact.
I got to go to the U.S. to study Economics at the Tuft’s University in Boston. It was a great experience studying there and then I used to model during my Holidays in Mumbai. I’ve modeled for Fair and Lovely and Lakme and many other products.
When I got back from the States, I was working in a financial company but the nine to five job was too much for me to handle. I’ve always had leaning towards the creative fields and soon got bored of life in the cubicle. I’m not street smart, so I couldn’t cope with the pressures of being a number cruncher. I’m a trained in Indian classical dance and I gave my first performance at the age of six! So when I couldn’t satisfy my creative urges, I joined a theatre group and started acting in plays.
It’s strange how Kaho Na..Pyaar Hai happened to me. My father has known Rakesh Roshan from a long time. Once, when I was very young, he’d seen me dancing at a wedding and he’d told my father that one day, he’d launch me in films. My father had vehemently argued with him. So it was destiny that when he invited my mom and me to his house for lunch and offered the film to me opposite Hrithik. It was a dream come true.
When I told my mom and dad about my decision to do the film, there was World War III in the house. They made me see all the disadvantages of being an actress and I told them o all the advantages of being in films. Finally, they came and saw my play and agreed that I would die if I didn’t get an opportunity to be an actress. So they relented. I will never be grateful enough to my parents for letting me become an actress. Also, I’ll never let their trust and faith in me go in vain. I will prove myself with my hard work and I’m confident that I’d be able to do a lot of good work in the film industry."
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