I HAD TO PROVE I’M PRETTY: MONICA DOGRA

Singer-actor Monica Dogra has released six music albums and acted in acclaimed films such as Rock On!! (2008) and Dhobi Ghaat (2011). The 34-year-old, who is making waves with her song Naraye Mastana, which was originally sung by legendary Sufi singer Abida Parveen, says that her struggle in the industry was entirely different from what other actors go through. She reveals that while many actors have to prove that they are more than a pretty face, it was the opposite for her. “I have been very lucky. The graph of my career has always been loaded with doing stuff which no one had done before. But I never felt the pressure to prove that I am something much more than a pretty face, because I had to instead prove to people that I am pretty in the first place!”. When we ask her to explain, the 34-year old shares, “When I first started acting, I was only offered nerdy roles — lawyers or someone intellectual. It has only happened recently that I am feeling that I can be intellectual, and at the same time, make a name for myself in the fashion arena too.” Famous in the indie-music scene, she confesses that the pressure to recreate a legend’s song was there, considering people will always compare her version with the original. “I have enormous respect for Abida Parveen. My approach was to make the song completely my own. This was a tough task, but I have in no way tried to touch her legacy,” says Monica, who is working in a task-based reality show