Sonali: Frank and fearless

Sonali Kulkarni is on a daring mission: to conquer fear and turn it on its head.
She is taking part in the reality show, Fear Factor India, with partners in fear, Pooja Bedi, Aditi Govirtrikar and Vidya Malvade amongst others. And, if you think that it is another of those celebrity shows, take a look at what she is up for.
���Participants must confront their most primal fears, try to remain calm and tap into their inner strength to perform daredevil and stomach-churning challenges like, lying in a box with more than a hundred snakes crawling over their bodies, tight rope walk between skyscrapers, surviving in scorpion-infested pits, climbing off water bikes into helicopter, climbing through window panes of high-rise buildings, drinking a gooey fear factor shake and several daredevil and death-defying tasks,��� says the channel���s official handout.
This is precisely what excites Sonali. ���We were shooting the show in South Africa. I���m a courageous person, but I did get scared when I was doing some of the sports activities. I was with my friends on the show, so we ended up having a lot of fun,��� she exclaims. And, when she is not confronting her fears, Sonali is working on some interesting projects ��� Love Khichdi, Sirf and Mohan Das: A Man Lost in His Own Nation ��� each different from the other. She can���t stop raving about her role in the last one ��� Mohan Das. ���I play a media reporter named Meghna. She finds out about a person who has been accused of a crime. The character is going through an identity crisis and Meghna steps in to try and solve the mystery,��� she says. Sonali tells you why the film is important for her. ���The director of the film, Mazhar Kamran, is a good friend of mine. I made a promise to him that I would act in his first film. So, when the time came, I was more than happy to do so,��� she adds.
Sonali is also passionate about writing, and she has a column of her own in a Marathi newspaper called So Kool, which is an abbreviation of her name. ���I really enjoy writing. It is a great way for me to speak to my fans. I���ve had a great response for my column and it has worked out very well,��� she adds.
A true-blue Puneite, she misses the city, especially her mum���s cooking. ���It���s a very sentimental thing for me. Whenever my mother visits me, or I visit Pune, she always makes sure to give me my favourite homemade achar or chutney. These small gestures of love really bring us together as a family,��� she says. And, what about theatre? ���Theatre has always been one of my first loves. It is a passion of mine that will neither wane nor fade away. If I get any opportunity to do theatre again, I���ll take it up,��� she replies. But, for now, she prefers to live in the shadow of fear.