Stardom beckons Tara to Bollywood

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript" src="Config?Configid=43376741"></script><br /><img align="left" src="/photo/59190.cms" alt="/photo/59190.cms" border="0" />A florid Friday. That crucial day, where careers are made and, sometimes, unmade. But she’s ready. Charm, chutzpah and charisma... that’s the stuff of which this newcomer is made.<br /><br />Tara Sharma has the intangible X factor.‘‘But then, I have always been familiar with the ways of showbiz, what with my dad being a playwright,’’ says a confident voice, ‘‘In fact, I faced the camera for the first time at the age of 11.’’ Enter the twist in the tale. Studious Tara headed for the London School of Economics.<br /><br />‘‘But I continued to feature in ads when I returned home during vacations.’’ Ah, ads! The stepping stone was set. And then, Bollywood came a-calling.<br /><br />‘‘During one of my visits to India, I met Anupam Kher, who offered me a role in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Om Jai Jagadish</span>,’’ recalls Tara, ‘‘After shooting for the film, I appeared in a stage production of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Romeo and Juliet</span> in London, where I had a nine-to-five job with an ad agency. But acting was turning into a passion for me.<br /><br />And I decided to make what I love a full-time career.’’ The prodigal returned. But, surprisingly, Tara concedes that she has never chalked out a career plan for herself. ‘‘That’s because I believe in taking one step at a time.<br /><br />I am three years old in the film industry and very happy with the way my career has shaped up.’’ Rightfully so. If the multi-starrer <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Om Jai Jagadish</span> was a decent enough debut, Tara has ‘‘a bigger role’’ in the Mukesh Bhatt-produced <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Saaya</span> and ‘‘an even more substantial role’’ in the Hinglish film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Khosla Ka Ghosla</span>.<br /><br />In the pipeline is Mahesh Bhatt’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Zaroorat</span> opposite the film-maker’s nephew Farhan Ashmi, but for now, Tara’s focus is <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Saaya</span>, which hits the silver screen today. ‘‘I play a headstrong doctor and wife to John Abraham, who plays a doctor himself,’’ she informs, ‘‘The film makes the audience question the emotions one goes through when one loses someone dear; and what happens after death.’’<br /><br />In real life, the lady is ‘‘very much single’’ and ‘‘in love with her work.’’ Meanwhile, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Saaya</span> casts its shadow over the box office. For Tara Sharma, there is a new date with fate.<br /><br /><br /></div> </div>