"Chaand, a song in the film Supari, became a hit. After working on the big screen, people started recognizing me on the roads. My friends have gone through a fair bit of eve-teasing and it was getting a bit scary. As a matter of caution, my parents decided that I travel by car,” says Nauheed Cyrusi, a model turned video jockey (VJ) turned Bollywood actress who since the past two years has had to stop travelling by train.
She finds acting in films more challenging than any assignment as a model or VJ or television actress "because the role is much bigger and there are so many people to work with.” She stopped VJing the day she signed her first film: "You can’t mix the small screen with the big one. You have to choose any one at a given point of time. But I continue to do commercials because of the quick money. It takes at least 50 days to complete a movie. The money comes in instalments, whereas, in commercials, you can earn a lot within a day or, at the latest, a month, depending on the ad.”
Cyrusi: "Acting is more challenging than modelling”
Preferring to model during weekends/vacations, 21-year-old Cyrusi says, "Sometimes I would do a lot of ads in a month, sometimes just one. Each modelling assignment would take anything from one day to five days. I carry my books to the sets and, when examination days would come closer, I’d stop modelling and concentrate on studies.” Devoting the last one month in an academic year to her studies she managed to score distinction marks during her years at the J. B. Vachha High School as well as at the Jai Hind College from where she graduated (BCom) in 2003.
Cyrusi’s modelling career started in the year 1996 at the age of 13 when she was in Standard VII: "It so happened that a friend of mine was interested in auditioning for the Dhara Oil ad produced by White Light Production house. The ad directors noticed me and told me to give auditioning a try. Instead of my friend, I got selected.” Cyrusi was thrilled and nervous at the same time, "after all, it is every child’s dream to be seen on television.” Bagging her first modelling assignment by sheer coincidence, Cyrusi took it rather lightly. She did not bother to get any photographs clicked or portfolio made and, till date, she doesn’t have any.
After a year, White Light Production called her once again to model for another advertisement, of McDonalds. However it was the Ayurvedic Concepts advertisement which "actually got me noticed. It was my big break in the ad world.” Further modelling assignments came her way: Head & Shoulders, Closeup, Pond’s, Kwality Walls, Gillette, Elle 18, Dabur Vatika, etc.
In 1997 Cyrusi was luckier. She got an assignment to act in a television serial, Hip Hip Hurray, for Zee TV. Soon after, her career took another turn. She became a VJ. States Cyrusi: "After Hip Hip Hurray, Zee Music called me up asking whether I would be interested in VJing for them. Sharukh Bharucha, my co-host-to-be in Zee Music, was already my co-actor in Hip Hip Hurray. Zee felt that two actors from the same serial would gel well as VJs.” Cyrusi worked for two shows every day, Zee Music Plus and Dial M. She vividly recalls the audition: well-known television anchor "Sajid Khan was very nice to me. He acted like a caller and constantly explained to me how to talk to callers, especially if the chat turns embarrassing or irrelevant. It was great fun!”
Cyrusi had modelled in a Kinetic Scooter advertisement. Its director Pradeep Sarkar, with whom she could "relate well,” approached her in 1998: "He said, in 11 days we have to go out of town; it’s a video shooting at Kotgarh, 100 kilometers north of Simla. The name of the video song album which became a hit was Piya Basanti with distinguished singers Ustad Sultan Khan and Chitra.” Cyrusi became popularly known as the "Piya Basanti girl.” "The entire song was shot in probably the worst weather conditions ever. It was the month of February and the sun would just come out for five seconds and hide back in the clouds. There was a lot of slush. We had to constantly change our clothes and re-do the make-up as every time we kept slipping and falling. We hardly slept!” Cyrusi played the role of a "pahaadi (mountain) girl” opposite co-actor Donovan. "Piya Basanti being my first video album, Donovan helped me a lot while working... I generally don’t mix around with my co-stars. I interact only with a few people who make sense to me. This avoids any eve teasing at the sets...”
Later, she went on to work in Pankaj Udhas’s video song album, Khuda Bachaye, with co-actor Vikram.
After successful stints with VJing, acting in song albums and extensive modelling, Cyrusi entered Bollywood: "Poorab Kohli, another co-actor of Hip Hip Hurray, recommended my name to director Padam Kumar for the film Supari in 2000. I liked the script; there was no audition.” Cyrusi was the leading lady opposite co-star Uday Chopra. Another well-known director Mukesh Bhatt noticed Cyrusi in the Kwality Walls advertisement and offered to sign her for his film, Inteha.
In Lakeer she worked with actors Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, John Abraham and Sohail Khan. The movie was released in May 2004.
(Far left) Cyrusi with co-star Ashmit Patel in Inteha and modelling for Maggi Noodles
"My upbringing has played a big role in my professional life. It’s very easy in this profession to make even the smallest mistake and go the wrong way. It’s thanks to my parents that I’ve stayed level-headed. I’ve seen some normal, good people turn extremely snobbish, and I don’t blame them because a lot of attention can change a person,” she believes.
Cyrusi’s source of inspiration are her parents, Zarir (55), a flight supervisor with Air India and Nergish (54), a housewife who accompanies her daughter for nearly every outdoor shoot, and is in charge of her finances. "I feel I shall achieve a small victory if I bring up my kids the way my parents have brought me up.” Elder sister Parinaz (24), works as brand ambassador with Gold Shield Call Centre. Nauheed was a mischievous child, talkative in class and one who made friends fast. She never missed a chance to participate in elocution competitions in which she always stood either first or second. She occasionally participated in the Dadar Parsi Gymkhana New Year festivities like dances and fashion shows. Having never joined an acting school, Cyrusi says confidently: "What is acting? It’s basically enacting or reacting to a situation. Every day of our lives we act. The two of us would have been acting right now had there been a camera!”
Despite a lucrative, bright, film career ahead of her, Cyrusi is still pursuing her MCom through the Kalina University. "I do not wish to waste a year and am putting my time to good use.” Thereafter she’d like to do her MBA, "if there’s scope to work here. But there’s scope only if you’re an MBA from an IIM (Indian Institute of Management) or from the US. Getting an educational degree never proves to be a waste and nobody can ever take it away from you. Besides, I don’t think I’ll be modelling or acting all my life. Thus, I’m playing safe and not depending on one job for the rest of my life.”
Whether she pursues finance, or marketing, or advertising, she has not decided. "Who knows, I may even want to go to a film school! I want to go slow as I don’t want to make a wrong decision. But, five years from now, I’d like to see myself settled in the Hindi film industry.” Cyrusi is sure, that her parents will guide and support her in whatever she does.
The actress wishes to get married at the age of 28 to "somebody who’s loyal, humorous, shares the same wavelength and who keeps me happy. Materialism is secondary. Besides, I’d like to get to know my bridegroom-to-be at least for a year or two,” says the cheerful Cyrusi. She is fond of travelling and English music (except heavy metal). What she dislikes is "anybody betraying my trust.” Cyrusi would like to marry a Parsi boy "but, finally, it’s the quality of the person and the family background that matters.”
Clockwise from right: Schooling and childhood years and with family (L to R) Zarir, Nergish, Nauheed and Parinaz Cyrusi
A great believer of the Zoroastrian faith, she regularly visits the Dadar Parsi Colony fire-temple where she resides and the Aslaji Agiary on Meher roz. It’s only during shoots that, at times, she can’t wear a sudreh and kusti for a few hours. She justifies: "God is in my heart. My mom understands that I don’t become a nastik (atheist) by not wearing a sudreh and kusti for a couple of hours ... In my opinion, religion is just a name. A lot of problems are caused by dividing mankind in the name of religion. I do not intend to condemn other religions, but we Parsis aren’t like some other communities who constantly fight. We tend to keep to ourselves. Thank God, I’m a Zoroastrian!”
Cyrusi would prefer the disposal of bodies in the scientific, traditional way. At the same time, she laments: "Unfortunately, the situation is such that there are no vultures. Rather than the bodies putrefying, it is better to go in for cremation... Importing vultures is a good idea, but they should not fly away.”
Her warm and friendly persona has helped her come a long way from the Dhara Oil advertisement to stardom. Working in the film industry has taught her an important lesson: "Do not react too much to what people say, as long as you know what you’re doing is right and stick to it.”