‘I was born to be a model’
Gobind Singh Mehta, barely out of college, is finding it difficult to handle success as a model. At present he is balancing two jobs. He is a known face in the fashion circuit, where he has walked for designers like Raghavendra Rathore, JJ Valaya and Rohit Bal. This Kashmiri Sikh is also working as a senior analyst in Mastercard in Pune. Now, he is adding another dimension to his career. He has finished shooting for two web series, one for ALTBalaji and the other for Netflix.
One thing which is constant in his life is his fitness regimen.
Settled at last
Coming from an Army background, I changed close to 10 schools and thus I am comfortable living in any part of the country. I was born in Kashmir but I consider myself a Chandigarh boy as my family has finally bought a house and settled down in Chandigarh.
This is what I want
I model because I want to. I chose this profession because I love the whole experience associated with modelling, from walking on ramp to meeting new people to experimenting with my looks. It was Chitrangada Singh, who is my family friend, advised me to join the profession.
Action & reaction
My father said he would be impressed only if I was signed by Anurag Kashyap. His standard reaction to all my achievements is ‘ok, good’. And, my mother on the other hand behaves as if the next Filmfare award will come to me only.
I admire
I love Dino Moria and Milind Soman. They knew how to rock the ramp.
Don’t look the same
One thing that I have to be conscious of is how I present myself. Making that first impression means a lot for our career. And I do keep changing my looks. I experiment so much that one cannot recognise that I am the same person in two different photos.
Some expert advice
One needs to understand that one has to grow a thick skin in this profession. There will be criticism and rejections along the way and one has to learn how to deal with it. It is not a cakewalk. I struggled as well. My other job (senior analyst) provides me the security and balance that I need.
Next phase—acting
As a model, I am comfortable facing the camera. And, modelling does require quite a bit of emoting, be it on the ramp or for print ads. So, acting is a natural progression for any model.
Personal life
I am dating a Russian girl. Though long-distance relationship is a bit hard but there is an adventurous side to it. You get to live with a person who is completely different and you get to know so much about them, their culture and their country
—As told to Sheetal
