On a roll: Amy Jackson : Bollywood News

Nineteen-year-old British model Amy Jackson is confident that her role as Prateik's love interest in Gautham Menon's Ek Deewana Tha is the perfect launch pad for her Bollywood career

Launch vehicle

I play Jessy, a Malayalee Catholic girl from Kerala who comes to Mumbai, in Gautham Menon's Ek Deewana Tha opposite Prateik. The film is slated to release next year and is the remake of Menon's Tamil and Telugu films, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Ye Maaya Chesave respectively. I am really excited about my acting debut and am kicked about working with Menon. I've seen his film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa at least 15 times. Ek Deewana Tha is a perfect launch pad for me in Bollywood. He is a perfectionist.

Casting coup

I never had any intention of being a part of Bollywood. I was happy with my modelling career in England. Tamil film director A.L.Vijay saw me at a beauty pageant and asked me to come to India as he wanted to cast me in his film, Madrasapattinam. Soon after that Gautham Menon offered me Ek Deewana Tha. I was called for a look-test and was signed immediately.

Stepping-stone

I am a British model-actor. I won the Miss Teen World title in 2008. My modelling assignments landed me a role in A. L.Vijay's Tamil film Madrasapattinam after which I was signed by Gautham Menon for Ek Deewana Tha.

First shot

It was an introduction scene of Prateik and me. The two of us had to walk down a road. I was very nervous and didn't expect to get the scene right at all. Thankfully, things went off well.

Lessons learnt

I am only 19-years old. I never imagined that I would travel to India and be a part of Bollywood. All this is new and strange for me. My experiences as an actor have helped me grow as a person. As I'm living in Mumbai all by my own, I have become very independent too

Stumbling-block

My voice has been dubbed in the film as I don't know how to speak in Hindi. I hired a Hindi tutor to help me with the dialogues. I can barely manage to say a couple of words in Hindi. But I needed to get my lip-sync correct. That was a challenge. I recently watched the trailer of the film and really liked it.

Matinee idol

I am a huge fan of Ranbir Kapoor. I watched his film Rockstar and thought he did a great job in the film. If given a chance I would love to act with him someday.

Future projects

I have one other film in the pipeline. It's a South Indian film with superstar Vikram and is expected to go on floors early next year. I am also considering Bollyw

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