MUMBAI: By now, you’ve probably caught the trailer of the thriller, ‘Game’ (unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks or don’t own a TV).
In the film, former Miss India-World, Sarah-Jane Dias, plays the role of Abhishek Bachchan’s love interest. Having almost disappeared from the scene after her debut in the Tamil rom-com, ‘Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai’, Dias couldn’t have scripted her Bollywood debut better — her turn as the bright-lipped burlesque dancer in the song ‘Mehki mehki’ is ruling the charts. Here’s what she actress has to say about playing Maya and the men she wants to work with.
Into the character
Directed by Abhinay Deo, the film is being touted as an edge-of-the-seat thriller about four mysterious strangers who are brought together by a reclusive millionaire. “I play Maya in the film. She kind of weaves all these characters together and she is someone who has gone through a lot in life and is madly in love with Abhishek Bachchan’s character,” explains Dias. As for how she landed the role, the pretty actress confesses that she auditioned for it. “The casting director called me up and asked me to audition. I was ecstatic when I found out I had the part,” she says.
She insists that the celebrations afterward were muted. As talk shifts back to her role in ‘Game’, Dias explains that she has three distinct looks in the film. “I really cannot discuss all of them but my ‘Burlesque’ look in ‘Mehki mehki’ is one of them. We wanted the look and the song to reflect musicals like ‘Chicago’ and ‘Moulin Rouge’ and I watched those movies to prepare for the number,” she explains, adding that she also approached Shabana Azmi for acting lessons.
International road trip
The trailer promises great chase sequences across the world. “Istanbul was absolutely beautiful. I got to visit a lot of tourist traps, as I was there for three months and fell in love with the cuisine, especially the kebabs,” she trails off.
The Bachchan factor
“Working with Abhishek was great. He is very jovial and cracks jokes all the time,” offers Dias about her co-star, insisting that he is a complete professional. “He is never the star on set. He is always the actor,” she gushes.
A style to mixing
Given that her character, Maya, has a very distinct style, we got Dias to throw some light on her personal wardrobe. “I love to mix and match but I like Shantanu and Nikhil, Masaba and Satya Paul. In fact Shantanu and Nikhil are going to be designing my dress for the film’s premiere,” she reveals.
Next up
Dias says she has a couple of projects lined up. On her wishlist? “Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar, Imitiaz Ali, and of course, Abhinay Deo again... that’s enough for now, right?” she signs off, laughing.
‘Game’ is scheduled to premiere on April 1.