PEOPLE STILL MESSAGE ME ABOUT TUM BIN
With Tum Bin, Sandali Sinha became a star overnight. But, she soon decided to settle down
With her debut film, Tum Bin (2001), Sandali Sinha won a lot of hearts. But the actor soon stepped away from the limelight after a couple of projects. Looking back at her decision, 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. “It all was natural, being in the entertainment industry. 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 just fell into place. It wasn’t a struggle and I wasn’t looking out to become an actor,” she tells us.
However, having stayed away from the camera for so many years, Sinha would like to believe that being out of sight hasn’t really proved to be out of mind in her case. “There are younger people, who must have been five when Tum Bin released. They still message me saying, ‘We really liked what you did’, and I say ‘Listen, how old were you then?’ There is such a reaction from the younger generation, which is lovely to see,” she quips.
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. Sometimes, what happens is, your head swells up after a hit film, it didn’t happen to us. It was very organic,” she explains.
That being said, Sinha confesses that personal reasons also played a factor in keeping her away from taking up more acting projects. “I’m from Delhi, so I kept going back there as my family needed me. I got married fairly early within three years (after making my debut), met my husband and decided to settle down. There wasn’t any planning put into it,” shares Sinha, describing herself as someone who goes with the flow.
After her marriage, she wanted to focus more on her family, as she believes she’s not someone who can multitask. In fact, she feels happy recalling that nobody from the film industry dissuaded her from tying the knot. It was a perception in the ’90s that the career of a female actor was over after she is married. “I guess getting married would’ve affected the way the public looks at you. But now, their opinion of a married woman being romanced by somebody else, is changing. Earlier, it was different. But I didn’t exit because of that. Maybe I still haven’t exited!,” exclaims the actor, who embraced motherhood in 2005.