She is a perfect blend of cultural fusion and is an epitome of style and beauty. Meet Chandigarh born actress Sameksha Singh, who won several awards for the Tamil movie Arinthum Ariyamalum, including the award for the best Debut Actress in Tamil industry.
An electronic engineer otherwise, she made her debut in movies with Telugu film “143” directed by Telugu movie director, Puri Jaggannath. Her first film in Tamil was Arinthum Ariyamalum by Tamil film director Vishnu Vardhan won her appreciation. After making her debut in Tamil and Telugu movies she finished more than 15 movies in these languages and is now more than 20 movies old!
Sameksha has done the city proud by bagging the Balraj Sahni National Award for her contribution to the cinema of Punjab. She appeared as a model for many print commercials for reputed brands like Kit-Kat, Monte Carlo, American Express Card, Amway, World Gold Council, Mother Dairy, Havell’s switch and T.V commercial’s like Johnson’s baby prickly heat powder, Hyundai Xing, Sunsilk, Metro tyres and Univercell mobile. Sameksha made her debut in small screen with the T.V soap “Zaara” where she played the lead role as Sonia Kapoor on Sahara One. Here is a dialogue with this shy yet generous actor!
What kind of genre of films do you want to be associated with?
Versatility is what I like. Realistic cinema is close to my heart. I would like to do films which explore real human emotions. I find them better than those with melodrama and usual appeals.
Do you feel the pressure of performance and does popularity bug you?
That is obvious. Certain amount of pressure to perform is healthy also. It must be there. It motivates an actor to grow.
What is the best advice that you got from your family or friends?
I think circumstances guide you better than anyone else. Life is a tough task master. It tests you first, and gives you lessons afterward. I have learnt not to get stuck in mistakes of past. Life is about ‘moving’ and the real essence lies in moving ahead despite the hardships.
Where do you feel is the regional film industry heading?
Even if an industry produce lesser number of movies, it is fine. The quality must be really good. Otherwise audience loses trust and because of bad movies they stop watching good films also. Movie makers must put in more money and make quality products. Similar movies and similar names have become paraphernalia. Punjabi culture is one of the richest and can give us some of the most amazing ideas for films. Several realistic stories can crop up from this region since it is close to border and for many other reasons. A variety of people are living in this region called Punjab and therefore there is immense scope to make a variety of movies. More actors (than singers) must be roped in to produce great movies.
Who are your closest friends in the film industry?
There are no specific people I can name. You work on a project, you make friends and move on to work with another set of people. Everyone gets busy in their lives.
Share something about your forthcoming movies
I am shooting for a Hindi film currently and it is realistic cinema. A Punjabi movie is about to release, titled ‘Vaapsi’. The shooting was done on real locations and it fulfilled my quest of doing realistic cinema.
How active are you on social media?
I am very bad at handling social media! I feel I must know people personally if they are on my facebook page or otherwise. I feel I can do better productive things than uploading my photos. I am not interested in finding small details related to what people are doing in their personal lives.
How significant has been the role of your family in your career?
From nothing to everything. They never wanted me to become an actor, so they never motivated me to go ahead in this field. But whatever I have done and whatever I think is because of them since they are responsible for making me the person that I am.
Whom do you idolize?
I am very easily influenced by people generally! Amitabh Bachhan is a super favorite and Priyanka Chopra works so hard, I really admire them.
Your message to those who wish to take up acting as a career
I wish to share that it is not easy. I was told that I look good. But that is not enough. Looks are only one aspect. One needs a lot of patience to survive in this industry. Some other educational talent must be there to strengthen the will-power. One must not enter this area for fame and money alone.