Mandira Bedi says that poor content was the reason she stayed away from fiction shows for over 10 years. Now she is all set for a creative makeover. By D Kaushik
She is ready to break away from the noodle straps and top tanks. Mandira Bedi seems to be in for a creative makeover. After anchoring reality shows, being a cricket commentator and judging a comedy show, Mandira is returning to acting after 10 years. She will play the part played by Nina Myers in an Indian adaptation of 24. An ardent fan of the thriller series Mandira told us she went to give the auditions for the role played by Nina. “I could not imagine myself to be anyone else but one of the government agents. However, I was called to audition for a different role which is a part of an Indian adaptation. It is a prominent and a very good character but I only wanted to play Nina in the show.
So I somehow convinced the makers to take my auditions for both the roles and finally I succeeded in getting the one I wanted,” said the actress, who last appeared as Shanti. “But in these last 10 years there hasn’t been even a single role that I would watch on TV and say, ‘Oh I missed that!’ I always thought that I will only be a part of the fiction show which will present me like Shanti. But when I got to know of 24, I knew it will be different. I am glad that I am a part of the show which will set new trends. The entire series is shot like a film,” said the actress adding that her anchoring job gave her an opportunity to establish her identity as Mandira Bedi.
The actress has also finished doing a film and other than that she has launched her own sari line. “I started to design just as a hobby and then someone asked me to put up an exhibition in Singapore. The response was good and I thought why not design 100 more saris for Mumbai. Now I have got a partner also and I will be opening up a store in Mumbai soon,” she informed.