Model and actress Dipannita Sharma has walked the ramp for design houses like Valentino and Fendi in India and was also the face of Breguet watches. She made her acting debut with 16 December but her film calendar has since been very sparsely populated. We have met her in My Brother... Nikhil, Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl and Jodi Breakers but the film industry has not been a cakewalk for her. With the idiom of Hindi cinema changing, Dipannita has re-jigged her priorities and this week we will see her in Pizza , a supernatural thriller. “My role in the film is paranormal. It was great fun playing this role, because it’s not something people associate me with. Paranormal is not glamorous, it involves a lot of physical strain and facial contortions. Also, the approach to the film’s plot is very fresh in terms of the Hindi Cinema’s horror-genre.”
Talking about her transition from a full- fledged model to an actor, Dipannita says the change was gradual. “Even though I don’t regularly model anymore, modelling will always be my first profession. But even as a model, I was acting in different pieces. Complete change has happened only now. I cut down on modelling because doing Fashion Weeks was getting too hectic. Slowly, I am discovering fun in the roles and films I do.”
On the stereotype that models can’t be great actors, Dipannita says, “I think that has already been broken by many of us. Take Deepika Padukone, she is a very talented actress who started off as a model. However, if there is still a segment which is not convinced, you can’t do much about what people think. At the end of the day, you can just work hard and prove yourself.”
When it comes to picking films, Dipannita says for her when it comes to roles, it’s just something she read, she knows and she is going to have fun doing.
“It’s as simple as that! I should feel that the character is going to add something to the film and the script itself has something that makes me feel happy about being a part of the project.”