Ludhiana, August 11
‘‘It was a life time experience for me to act in the movie ‘Guldasta’, an Indo-Canadian production, which highlights the present Kashmir torn by terrorism and strife. The movie, based on a real-life situation was released in Canada yesterday,’’ said an upcoming star Jonita Doda, an Indian national who was in the city yesterday in connection with a function.

‘‘Acting in such a movie which is not just a drama but a real-life story depicting the sordid tale of untold cruelty which the Kashmiris are facing daily, living under the shadow of death, was a challenging experience for me. I can say now that acting in such a movie has lend me a good amount of confidence and I am looking forward to an acting career in Bollywood movies,’’ she said, while talking to the Ludhiana Tribune.

‘‘In the movie directed by Indo-Canadian producer Amaan Pal Sara, I am playing a lieutenant in the Army posted in Kashmir. One Major gets injured and comes for treatment. As it happens in the movies they fall in love till the Major discovers that she is a Muslim. They drift apart as his whole family was massacred by Muslims. The story has a happy ending as the Major discovers the truth behind the killing of his family,’’said Jonita Doda with stars in her eyes.

She said that the shooting took place in Dalhousie during January when it was extremely cold. she said,‘‘We used to shoot till 3 am. It was very tiring but exciting at the same time and very hectic. The day we packed, it started snowing heavily. We unpacked and again stared shooting.’’

Jonita has had a chequered career before becoming a film actress. She participated in beauty contests. She was the first one to be titled ‘Spice Girl’ in 1999 and won the title of ‘Miss Himachal’ and ‘Miss Thunderbolt’, but she switched over to be a choreographer as she found it to be more creative. She choreographed annual Zee TV shows and other prestigious shows at the launch of various products.

During the shows she got noticed and was selected to act in various serials on DD-I. She anchored ‘My Choice’ and ‘On Demand’. In the latter programme she had to go out to public and on their demand played the songs. ‘Just For You’ was a messaging programme. ‘Ubharate Sitare’ an interview progamme, she interviewed many upcoming stars.

She acted in the serial ‘X-Zone’. She appeared in Zee Alpha Punjabi TV channel serials,‘Apni Mitti’, ‘Pind Vichon Pind Sunila’ and ‘Assan Hum Tur Jana’.

Her career has just begun and she hopes to act with famous Bollywood stars. She has acted in a mystery serial on Star T V ‘Koi Hai’. In this hour-long serial, four girls go looking for a werewolf. She hopes that her acting career will take an upward swing, but she does not want to give up choreography as she loves the creativity and the challenge involved in it.

The other shining star on the horizon is Dolly Singh. Her debut album ‘Udeekan’ and specially the song ‘Batiyan bhujiye rakhdi’ are topping charts not only in India but in Canada, the USA, the UK and Pakistan. Incidentally she has been blessed with a crisp singing voice resembling the voice of Pakistani singers.

She said,‘‘A team of Pakistani singers had come to Chandigarh recently. Pervez Mehndi, one of the members of the team really encouraged me and has invited me for stage shows in Pakistan. I received many awards in gazals, bhajan singing competitions during youth festivals. One of my teachers introduced me to a producer of Lashkara Channel. He gave me a break and I sang in the serials ‘Vapasi’ and ‘Putt taa jawai hain’. Later I sang for other channels too. Finally the Cataract Company gave me a chance to record my first album ‘Udeekan’.

She has given performances in all metros and got a chance to sing with many famous singers. But it was her first performance in Ludhiana yesterday.