When Sharmin Segal matched steps with Priyanka Chopra
Actress was overjoyed to dance alongside the global star in ‘Malaal’
Debutante actress Sharmin Segal has raved about dancing alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas for forthcoming film ‘Malaal’.
The special video of the song ‘Udhal Ho’ is out now.
“Dancing with Priyanka was surreal. She learns dance steps for performances overnight. I remember her rehearsing for ‘Pinga’ [a song from the film ‘Bajirao Mastani’]. She had shot throughout the night, rehearsed in the morning, went back home and shot the entire night again,” Segal said. “So, when I was shooting for ‘Udhal Ho’, it motivated me to shoot the entire night and rehearse in the day. She has been such an inspiration in my life for things to do or not to do on sets.”
Segal wears a ‘nauvari’ sari in the song’s video, similar to the one sported by Chopra Jonas’ character Kashibai in ‘Bajirao Mastani’.
The young actress shared that she would say in her mind, “Oh, I feel like Priyanka Chopra.”
This is not the first time that Segal has interacted with Chopra Jonas. She worked as an assistant director on two of her films, ‘Mary Kom’ and ‘Bajirao Mastaani’.
According to Segal, Chopra Jonas taught her a life lesson.
“There was a time when I had to go to New York to meet her and at the New York Fashion Week, someone from her team had clicked a picture of us together. Next day morning, she sent me that photo. After some time when we were having breakfast, she told me, ‘the photo I had sent you in the morning, don’t do that again’.
“I was looking down in the photo and she was looking at me. She said that ‘this happens a lot that you end up looking down when you are awkward and you should never do that.’ I think that is something that I have actively worked upon ever since she gave me that advice,” Segal said.
“I make eye contact with people,” said the young actress mentioning that such practices made her more confident.
Given an opportunity, which character of Chopra Jonas would she like to play on-screen?
“Kashibai for sure. One, Sanjay [Leela Bhansali] sir directed it, second Kashibai’s love is a different kind of love. It’s the kind of love you sacrifice and on some level, it’s a really nice character to play. It’s selfless love where another person’s happiness matters more than your own,” she said.
“Kashi’s character had many complex layers. Priyanka did a great job with it and I don’t think I will ever be able to match up to that but I am hopeful that in the future, I will get a chance to play characters like that,” said Segal.
‘Malaal’ releases in the UAE on July 4.