Actress Saloni is on cloud nine these days. Enjoying the success of her latest film, Maryada Ramanna, Sindhi girl with an indefatigable can-do attitude, is relishing the accolades that the runaway hit has brought her. “I have been waiting for this for so long,” gushes the Maharashtra born actress adding, “’M’ in July is lucky for me.”
A graduate in psychology from SNDT, Mumbai, Saloni was the quintessential talented young girl aspiring to be an actress. “Being an actress was always my aim. I would dream about it since childhood,” says the gorgeous actress adding, “I have also always loved dancing and would spend hours staring at myself in the mirror.”
Saloni pursued her passion by joining Ashok Kumar’s Acting School in Mumbai and was also part of a theatre group called Kala Sansad for some time before her foray into acting in films. “I did a lot of courses in pursuit of my dream. Acting courses, modelling and theatre, were all part of it,” says the young actress who did several commercials for brand names like Vaseline, Lifebuoy, Parachute Oil, Moove, Chic shampoo and Three Roses, among others during her modelling days.
Saloni, who made her acting debut in Saawan Kumar’s Hindi film Dil Pardesi Ho Gayaa (2003), is well-versed with the pressures of commerce and commercial cinema and freely admits that it is tough to make a mark in the industry when a couple of films do not set the box-office ringing. “Surely, it is a tad disillusioning when your hard work does not pay off,” says the actress, who started her Tollywood career with Dhana 51 and several other films such as Chukkallo Chandrudu (2006), Kokila (2006) and Boss, I Love You (2006).
Albeit, basking in the glory of her success, Saloni cherishes the words of encouragement and support within the industry. “On one occasion, Rajamouli sir said that I am a good actress, that was special,” says the spunky actress who describes herself as a ‘happy-go-lucky girl’.
Nevertheless, Saloni has her feet firmly on the ground and loves the time she spends with her family. “My dad is the bravest person I know. He is my idol. I absolutely adore my mother as well,” says she adding that her parents watch all her films. “They realise that I am trying to carve a niche for myself in a field they are not familiar with. So they are not unnecessarily critical of my performance or my films,” says Saloni who clearly enjoys the perks of her profession. “I see myself on the screen all the time. But it is a different feeling altogether when people come up to my parents and say nice things about me.”
Saloni is a thorough professional who believes in perseverance and raising the bar in terms of her performance. “I want to do a double role; one wicked and the other a naive girl,” says the talented actress who admires Sridevi, Nagarjuna and late Soundarya for their efforless acting prowess and screen persona.
Buoyed be her recent success, Saloni is looking for roles that would prove her mettle as an actress to reckon with. “ I see myself working for the next 5 to 10 years doing good meaningful cinema,” says the actress before signing off.