Arushi Sharma: Had tasted blood after that cameo in Tamasha

Newcomer Arushi Sharma recounts how a scene in Tamasha helped her bag Imtiaz's next.

You can hear a sense of wonder in her voice as Arushi Sharma acknowledges that a fleeting scene in Tamasha (2015) changed her life. An IT engineer by education, the youngster made a brief appearance as Princess Sanjukta in the song Chali Kahani, in the Imtiaz Ali-directed venture. Cut to five years later, she finds herself romancing Kartik Aaryan in the filmmaker's next, Love Aaj Kal.

"I shot for that film five years ago, and had tasted blood [after the cameo]. I went up to him and told him I would love to do movies. Even though I subsequently got a nine-to-five job in Gurgaon, I had an alternate life at home. I would get home from my job and make audition tapes," shares Sharma. When she was called for an audition to Delhi last February, little did she know that she would find herself face-to-face with Ali again. "At the audition, I saw this curly-haired, tall man. It turned out to be Imtiaz sir. I got locked for the part 10 days later."

The February 14 release offers two love stories — while the present-day story features Sara Ali Khan and Aaryan, the '90s romance has Sharma play an Udaipur girl. Considering Aaryan and Khan's chemistry is being much talked about, did she feel intimidated about rubbing shoulders with them? "On the first day of the shoot, I had a bigger challenge — to do a good job as an actor because such opportunities don't come easy to any actor, let alone a newcomer. So, I kept calm and did not get swayed by the noise around. Sara and Kartik are professionals. We derived our energy from Imtiaz sir who was clear about what he expected from us."

Imtiaz Ali

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