Dalai: I wanted to quit school after Aaja Nachle, but my mum refused
RAfter doing the film I decided I would take time off school; ab toh mujhe star hi rehna hai. But my mum wanted me to have a regular childhood DALAI, Actor
ecently seen in the show Big Girls Don’t Cry, Dalai started out as a child artiste with Aaja Nachle in 2007. The actor says, “After doing the film, I’d decided that I would take time off school and do homeschooling, because ab toh mujhe star hi rehna hai. But my mum refused, as she wanted me to go to school. She didn’t want me to be a child artiste. She wanted me to have a regular childhood, because as a child artiste you might set yourself up for life, but you might not get to do [regular] things, like play. She was clear that when I was done with schooling and if I still felt I wanted to be an actor, that would be an informed decision.”
When she grew up, however, Dalai — who also appeared in the first season of Made in Heaven — admits that she considered other professions. “I meandered away from acting and decided to become a visual artist. I started understanding the reality of the industry and how unreliable a career it (acting) was. There was a hefty amount of fear. I applied for visual arts, but there was an admin error, and I was sorted into the performing arts,” she laughs, adding that while she panicked, her mother asked what is it that she’d do with “all her heart” and be successful in. “Acting was my answer,” she adds.
And Dalai hasn’t looked back since. Ask how someone like her to made a comeback without connections and the actor — who is currently working on her next project — replies, “I shy away from saying I did it all on my own. People always had somebody take a chance on them. Actors from both film families and outside the industry have been able to make it big.”