National Award winning Bollywood director Shoojit Sircar's much-awaited film October has a lot of offer. Shoojit is known for making realistic, relatable and entertaining films. He recently revealed that the Judwaa 2 actor Varun Dhawan will be in a never-seen-before avatar. But very little is known about debutant Welsh actor Banita Sandhu who is cast opposite Varun Dhawan. Here are some quick facts:
- 20-year-old Banita Sandhu is an Indo-British actress with an NRI Punjabi family. She has worked in TV commercials and short films in the past.
- October is her debut Bollywood film. However, according to a BBC interview, she wanted to work for British dramas like Coronation Street and not Bollywood.
- An English literature student, Banita has worked in short films since a young age. After she turned 18, she worked in advertisements for Vodafone and Wrigleys and that's how she got noticed by Shoojit Sircar.
- Banita spoke about her family to BBC saying, "My grandparents came to Britain from the Punjab, northern India, shortly after World War II. Both my parents were born here and my sister and I were raised in a middle-class existence in Caerleon."
Banita Sandhu worked really hard for her debut in October and had to take Hindi lessons for this film. She had said, 'I could not have asked for a better debut than October. Having worked with him in an ad before, Shoojit Sir is par excellence. Shoojit Sir wanted raw emotions, hence there were no workshops held for us. This helped us to explore ourselves and bring out our emotions in the most natural manner.' She calls her co-star Varun Dhawan, "Justin Bieber of India."
When Banita was in the second year pursuing English Literature Degree at King's College London she was got an offer from Bollywood, which she immediately took up.
Banita told BBC that working on the film also helped her to know more about the Indian culture. She further added, "As we had no relatives in India, I had no reason to learn about it or engage with the history. So I loved learning more about the culture and my family's lives, struggles, and traditions."
While we can talk more about her acting talent once October releases, her sartorial choices have already made waves. Her Instagram pictures show that the budding actress is quite a trendsetter. Check out some chic picture of the fashionista:
