MESSAGE ME ABOUT TUM BIN

With her debut film, Tum Bin (2001), Sandali Sinha won a lot of hearts. But the actor stepped away from the limelight after a couple of projects. But she has no qualms. Currently running a patisserie and spa with her husband Kiran Salaskar, in Mumbai, she fondly

remembers how everything in her journey happened without any struggle. “I started off as a model, worked in TV for a year and then starred in music videos by Anubhav (Sinha, filmmaker) and his wife Ratna. When they were making their debut film, everything fell into place. It wasn’t a struggle and I wasn’t looking to become an actor,” she tells us.

However, having stayed away from the camera for years, Sinha

would like to believe that being out of sight hasn’t really proved to be out of mind in her case. “Younger people who must have been five when Tum Bin released still message me: ‘We really liked what you did’,” she says.

While many newcomers are eager to capitalise on a hit, Sinha, 48, clearly was not one of them. However, she admits that today, actors are more aware of these dynamics. “They’re recognised and approached more today. Back then, it wasn’t so much in the public eye, whatever experiences used to happen with us... they were mostly personal,” she explains.

That being said, Sinha confesses that personal reasons also played a factor in keeping her away from more projects. “I kept going back to Delhi as my family needed me. I got married within three years (after making my debut). There wasn’t any planning put into it,” shares Sinha, describing herself as someone who goes with the flow.

After marriage, she wanted to focus more on her family as she’s not someone who can multi-task. It was a perception in the ’90s that the career of a female actor was over after she is married. “Now, their opinion of a married woman being romanced by somebody else, is changing. It was different earlier. But I didn’t exit because of that. Maybe I still haven’t exited!,” says the actor, who embraced motherhood in 2005.

PHOTOS: HTCS/ DHRUV SETHI PHOTO: FOTOCORP Chef Manjit Singh Gill Chilean walnuts Chilean Walnuts Juan Angulo. Sumit Saran,In-country Marcela Zúñiga Alegría, Digvijay (L to R) Marcela Zúñiga Alegria, Juan Angulo, Sumit Saran Manjit Singh Gill, A still from Tum Bin starring Priyanshu Chatterjee, Himanshu Malik and Raqesh Bapat PEOPLE STILL