I AM PROUD OF HAVING MADE IT ON MY OWN WITHOUT EITHER MY FATHER OR A GODFATHER
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Manasvi Mamgai, 26, is
simple, sensitive and sweet. She is also restless, adventurous and
hyper. For her, everything needs to be perfect and she is susceptible to
getting emotionally attached easily. She has not seen her father since
the age of 16 and is proud to have made it without either her father or
even a godfather, be it winning the Miss India title in 2010 or her
first Prabhudheva film Action Jackson. Over a cup of coffee, she talks
to Bombay Times about her difficult childhood, her love for her mother
and why she is so scared of Prabhudheva.Excerpts:
How did you become a Miss India?
I am a Garhwali with roots from Uttaranchal.I was born in Delhi, but brought up in Chandigarh. My dad was in the construction business and mother, a teacher. My parents always had trouble in their marriage, but they remained together till such time that I grew up. My mother has always been spiritual and was into Art of Living through which she knew Rhea Pillai. Rhea had once come to Chandigarh when I had passed out of Class XII, when she saw me and said, `You are tall and good looking. Why don't you try modelling?' She said, `Come to Mumbai. I will introduce you to a couple of people and let's see what they have to say about you.' So I came to Mumbai and she made me meet Atul Kasbekar and Reshma Shetty and a couple of other people. Fortunately , they said nice things and I decided to try modelling and moved to Delhi. I was just 16 then. Work started pouring in. I started earning and that's when my mother got the courage to leave my father and shift with me to Delhi. I always wanted to become a Miss India. I filled up the entry form, auditioned and through the normal process, won it in 2010. They always say that when you become Miss India, you go down in history , as every girl while growing up wants to be one. After becoming Miss India, I shifted to Mumbai. I continued walking for fashion weeks and kept meeting and auditioning for films, till Prabhudheva auditioned me for Action Jackson. Actually , my whole fascination with glamour started with dancing. I have learnt bharatnatyam, belly dancing and contemporary dance. I always wanted to dance and perform. Even when I thought about movies, I always dreamt of working with a Farah Khan or Remo Fernandes or Prabhudheva. I feel life has come a full circle and my wish has come through working with Prabhudheva in Action Jackson.
Talk about working with Prabhudheva?
When I met him for the first time, I had a fan moment.For people who dance, it's a big thing to just meet Prabhudheva. He is very sweet. While offering the role to me, he said, `Manasvi, the only difference between my other movies and this movie is your character.' He just said that one line and I was on.He is very fair. He will know what your potential is and basis that, he does justice to each one. He knows when you are working hard. He has two eyes in the front and two eyes at the back and is very alert and I am very scared of him.
What about Ajay Devgn?
Ajay is so classy and composed and both Prabhudheva and he don't talk.
Who do you love the most in the world?
Mom. She is the only one I have in the world. She is very shy , but is more ambitious about me than I am about myself. She was the one who pushed me to take part in Miss India. That was her dream. For me, it was about acting and dancing, but while she was growing up, she would read a lot of magazines and was very fascinated with models and glamour. She is also my biggest critic. But this time, for the first time, when I performed the Gangster Baby song at the song launch, she recorded it on her phone and since then, she must have seen it 300 times. She said, `Look how well you dance.' Ever since my parents separated, I have not been in touch with my father. And since the age of 16, I have taken care of my mother and myself. And there has never been a time honestly, when I have bowed down to anybody or taken a favour or support.
Everything I have done is on merit. She is proud of that. And I am very proud that I have done it on my own without any godfather.
And probably that is also the reason that I am always insecure and hyper about people favouring someone.
Which was your lowest period?
I was in depression for a year when I lost Miss World.Till then, whichever competition I had gone to in life, I had always won. always won.Miss World is something I really wanted. If you tell me to get flowers for you, I will spend one hour finding the best flowers for you. In Miss World, I can't even tell you how much hard work I put in. But after losing, for a year, I could not face the world and it was depressing. I lost faith in everything. I was angry with the world, with God, with everybody . Also, just post that, I went through a breakup in my relationship.I get easily attached, as I am a very emotional person. I felt life had ended.Fortunately , I was modelling and doing very well and slowly , I came to terms with it.
Are you in a relationship right now?
I have had a few affairs and all of them have been serious, as I put my heart into everything. When I like somebody, that person is everything for me. That is the way I am. Right now, I have no time. If I am in a relationship, then that becomes the centre of my universe and I can't afford that right now.
Your parents separated when you were 16. Isn't it unusual that you are not in touch with your father?
He has been a great father and I have many of his traits. I look like him and like him, I feel very close to nature. He was a genius, who was a bit crazy . For instance, he dropped out of second year of engineering from one of the top colleges only because he proved his teacher wrong against stuff written in textbooks. He was very inventive, but the problem was that even when a top corporate house would be looking for him desperately to solve a problem, and if he didn't feel like going, he would not. He was unpredictable, head strong and egoistic, but was very caring towards me. I remember if I had gone to a dance competition and came back home late, he would be up cooking food for me. He was protective about me and once, when I was about to meet with an accident, he almost mur dered the person who was responsible. But with my mother, there were a lot of issues and a lot of domestic violence at home. Right from when I was very small, they would fight. I wish my parents had sepa rated much before. At least I would not have seen all those things while growing up. I knew that despite being a good father, he had wronged my mother a lot and so, I decided to stay with her and cut off from him. He tried to be in touch with me always, but every time my father's name comes up, I cannot control my mother. She is very uncomfortable and still hates him. She doesn't want me to be in contact with him. Once, after winning Miss India, I was in contact with him. She came to know and she got very upset. I still love him, but I don't want to meet him as he is very unpredictable and may start harassing my mother again. As a child, the violence troubled me, but I was so young that there was not much that I could do. I was always with my mother, but did not have the voice at that time to do anything till I became 16.Dance helped me in a big way to escape that.
Do you have a dream?
I want to be remembered as a great actress, good human being and a person who is nice to work with. I also want to relax in my life and not stress out as much as I do.
I am a Garhwali with roots from Uttaranchal.I was born in Delhi, but brought up in Chandigarh. My dad was in the construction business and mother, a teacher. My parents always had trouble in their marriage, but they remained together till such time that I grew up. My mother has always been spiritual and was into Art of Living through which she knew Rhea Pillai. Rhea had once come to Chandigarh when I had passed out of Class XII, when she saw me and said, `You are tall and good looking. Why don't you try modelling?' She said, `Come to Mumbai. I will introduce you to a couple of people and let's see what they have to say about you.' So I came to Mumbai and she made me meet Atul Kasbekar and Reshma Shetty and a couple of other people. Fortunately , they said nice things and I decided to try modelling and moved to Delhi. I was just 16 then. Work started pouring in. I started earning and that's when my mother got the courage to leave my father and shift with me to Delhi. I always wanted to become a Miss India. I filled up the entry form, auditioned and through the normal process, won it in 2010. They always say that when you become Miss India, you go down in history , as every girl while growing up wants to be one. After becoming Miss India, I shifted to Mumbai. I continued walking for fashion weeks and kept meeting and auditioning for films, till Prabhudheva auditioned me for Action Jackson. Actually , my whole fascination with glamour started with dancing. I have learnt bharatnatyam, belly dancing and contemporary dance. I always wanted to dance and perform. Even when I thought about movies, I always dreamt of working with a Farah Khan or Remo Fernandes or Prabhudheva. I feel life has come a full circle and my wish has come through working with Prabhudheva in Action Jackson.
Talk about working with Prabhudheva?
When I met him for the first time, I had a fan moment.For people who dance, it's a big thing to just meet Prabhudheva. He is very sweet. While offering the role to me, he said, `Manasvi, the only difference between my other movies and this movie is your character.' He just said that one line and I was on.He is very fair. He will know what your potential is and basis that, he does justice to each one. He knows when you are working hard. He has two eyes in the front and two eyes at the back and is very alert and I am very scared of him.
What about Ajay Devgn?
Ajay is so classy and composed and both Prabhudheva and he don't talk.
Who do you love the most in the world?
Mom. She is the only one I have in the world. She is very shy , but is more ambitious about me than I am about myself. She was the one who pushed me to take part in Miss India. That was her dream. For me, it was about acting and dancing, but while she was growing up, she would read a lot of magazines and was very fascinated with models and glamour. She is also my biggest critic. But this time, for the first time, when I performed the Gangster Baby song at the song launch, she recorded it on her phone and since then, she must have seen it 300 times. She said, `Look how well you dance.' Ever since my parents separated, I have not been in touch with my father. And since the age of 16, I have taken care of my mother and myself. And there has never been a time honestly, when I have bowed down to anybody or taken a favour or support.
Everything I have done is on merit. She is proud of that. And I am very proud that I have done it on my own without any godfather.
And probably that is also the reason that I am always insecure and hyper about people favouring someone.
Which was your lowest period?
I was in depression for a year when I lost Miss World.Till then, whichever competition I had gone to in life, I had always won. always won.Miss World is something I really wanted. If you tell me to get flowers for you, I will spend one hour finding the best flowers for you. In Miss World, I can't even tell you how much hard work I put in. But after losing, for a year, I could not face the world and it was depressing. I lost faith in everything. I was angry with the world, with God, with everybody . Also, just post that, I went through a breakup in my relationship.I get easily attached, as I am a very emotional person. I felt life had ended.Fortunately , I was modelling and doing very well and slowly , I came to terms with it.
Are you in a relationship right now?
I have had a few affairs and all of them have been serious, as I put my heart into everything. When I like somebody, that person is everything for me. That is the way I am. Right now, I have no time. If I am in a relationship, then that becomes the centre of my universe and I can't afford that right now.
Your parents separated when you were 16. Isn't it unusual that you are not in touch with your father?
He has been a great father and I have many of his traits. I look like him and like him, I feel very close to nature. He was a genius, who was a bit crazy . For instance, he dropped out of second year of engineering from one of the top colleges only because he proved his teacher wrong against stuff written in textbooks. He was very inventive, but the problem was that even when a top corporate house would be looking for him desperately to solve a problem, and if he didn't feel like going, he would not. He was unpredictable, head strong and egoistic, but was very caring towards me. I remember if I had gone to a dance competition and came back home late, he would be up cooking food for me. He was protective about me and once, when I was about to meet with an accident, he almost mur dered the person who was responsible. But with my mother, there were a lot of issues and a lot of domestic violence at home. Right from when I was very small, they would fight. I wish my parents had sepa rated much before. At least I would not have seen all those things while growing up. I knew that despite being a good father, he had wronged my mother a lot and so, I decided to stay with her and cut off from him. He tried to be in touch with me always, but every time my father's name comes up, I cannot control my mother. She is very uncomfortable and still hates him. She doesn't want me to be in contact with him. Once, after winning Miss India, I was in contact with him. She came to know and she got very upset. I still love him, but I don't want to meet him as he is very unpredictable and may start harassing my mother again. As a child, the violence troubled me, but I was so young that there was not much that I could do. I was always with my mother, but did not have the voice at that time to do anything till I became 16.Dance helped me in a big way to escape that.
Do you have a dream?
I want to be remembered as a great actress, good human being and a person who is nice to work with. I also want to relax in my life and not stress out as much as I do.
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