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Winner of Miss India Earth 2005, Niharika Singh entered the South Indian film industry through a Kannada film.

This beauty pageant winner was chosen by director Anand Kumar for the movie Private Number, which also stars Mangalore boy Preetham and German model and actress Claudia Ciesla.

Metrolife caught up with Niharika, who is in the City to shoot for Private Number.

Thrilled about her role in the film, Niharika says it is a perfect project for her.

She says, “When Anand approached me for this film, I did not have a second thought. I play a corporate girl called Mallika, who is the boss of the hero. The hero is troubled by phone calls that from a private number,” she says.

She confirms that the story has nothing to do with the Bollywood movie Karthik Calling Karthik. “Except phone calls, there is nothing similar. The concept is really fresh and the story is neatly woven,” she adds.

At present, she has two Bollywood projects lined up for release. She says she wants to keep her options open by not restricting herself to any particular language.

Niharika’s Miss Lovely with Nawaz Siddiqui and A Love History by John Matthew Matthan are all set for release. “I like to grow as a versatile actress and want to prove my abilities beyond doubt. Hence, I am open to all languages and experiments. I have a long way
to go and need to groom myself constantly to meet the expectations of my director.
That’s why I have been choosy in picking roles,” says Niharika, who considers Madhuri Dixit as a complete entertainer.

What type of roles suit her best? “Being an actress, I would like to do all kinds of roles. Unfortunately, I have my limitations. I can’t play an African-American girl. But I am ready to essay any role that I can fit into.”  

Though beauty pageant winners coming to film industry is a common trend, Niharika cites other reasons. “At some point of time, I felt modelling was a monotonous work. I feel films are intellectually stimulating as we need to convince the audience that what they are watching is real. When you work months together on a film, the emotional involvement is also more. So I shifted my interest away from modelling,” she reveals.

What type of a person is she in real life? “I don’t really match up to what people think about actresses. I love to cook and am thinking of flying abroad to take culinary lessons. I like to read. I also want to write an autobiography in future,” she beams.