Mumbai: Off and on, we heard buzz down the years that Manasvi Mamgai, Miss India 2010, was making her film debut. But nothing came of it – till Prabhudheva decided to make the three-heroine “Action Jackson,” and Manasvi was cast as one of them.
In a bold, revealing outfit in the dance track “Gangster Baby,” launched some days ago, the model-turned-actor was introduced to the audience and the industry, turning quite a few heads. A few days later, we met the girl herself at the Hotel Sun’N’Sand.
The dream break with a superstar (Ajay Devgn) and a superstar director was the culmination of a childhood desire and dream – Manasvi was barely three when she would first tie a “chunari” and imitate an actress. Later, she would perform at all school events and family functions and even learnt some classical music from her mother.
“I was a fan of Madhuri Dixit and Prabhu-sir since childhood,” she recalls. “My only dance training was watching everyone on television. And when my first film offer came, I went ‘Oh my God! Prabhu-sir!’”
Letting go of some offers for over 18 months after she won the crown and choosing this film was an instinctive decision, she says. “It was all dil se, not dimaag se (I followed what my heart told me, not my brain),” she smiles. “I thought this film was the right break. It was to have one established actress – Sonakshi Sinha, one who was neither experienced nor new – Yammi Gautam, and one new face: that is me. On the day I gave my screen test, everything worked great – I looked, acted and danced great and I was in!”
Manasvi admits that while she looks petite in real life, she comes across as voluptuous on screen. “Prabhu-sir even tells me that I look like a boy!” she grins. “I play a gangster – something far removed from what I am, and looking back, I do not know how I did it!” She terms herself as very lucky to have a debut film in which she had a good role, had to look sexy and also do action.
As she explains, “I have also done Kalaripattu, the South Indian martial art, that I trained in with Shifu, the man who also taught commando training to Devgn for this film. I love the action part as I am a certified Scuba diver.”
The Nainital-born girl was schooled in Chandigarh and lived with her mother after her parents separated. “My heart was always in the performing arts,” she says. “But contrary to my childhood perceptions and the general feeling, acting is one of the toughest professions! The environment is not always comfortable and it can be very stressful sometimes.”
As a co-star, she found Devgn cool and composed and someone who helped a lot in her work. “For example, he would guide me about keeping the lighting in mind, stating that even great acting could go waste if the light was not on me from the proper angle,” she reveals.
While she has no frame to share with Sonakshi, there are some sequences with Yammi. And what does she think about the director? “Oh, Prabhu-sir is a quiet man, but a perfectionist and taskmaster!” she replies. “He’s like a commando trainer at whose entry everyone is on their toes!”