Soniya Bansal: No hurdles in movie trade down South…comparatively

“In South film industry there are no hurdles like we have in the Hindi film industry. I have worked in Telugu industry and everyone means serious business there. People are very professional there and what they say they deliver. Here projects keep on lingering and many times after wasting several months they don’t happen. Casting and others asking for favours is also prevalent, but you need to tackle it,” says the Shoorveer (2022) actor.

Nonetheless, Bansal feels the movie trade continues to be higher in comparison with different fields as there are alternatives aplenty. “See, you can always reject such people – small or big – and can work with others as there is no dearth of casting people, producers and directors. I feel our (film) industry is better as there are multiple options. Harassment and such things happen in other industries also, but there, unfortunately, people don’t have many options,” she says.

She has accomplished the taking pictures for upcoming Telugu movies Dheera with Laksh Chadalavada and Sure Boss with KL Havish.

“I hope my stint down South will fetch me good work in the Hindi industry. I am learning Telugu as I want to do bigger films now and it’s your work only that fetches you good work. Besides, I feature in music videos for singers like Navraj Hans, Krishna Beuraa and Master Saleem. I am in talks for Hindi projects as well,” she says.

On her journey she says, “After completing my education from Agra, I shifted to Mumbai and worked in the corporate world for a year but acting was on my mind. So, I started with modelling and did lots of shows, which led to commercials and music videos and even fetched me a feature film 100 Crore with Rahul Roy. Thereafter, I got Naughty Gang (2019) and I got to play the role of cop in Dubki (2021).”

The actor says that she has stopped modelling however takes up showstopper occasions and does digital branding occasions on social media, which fetches her good cash. “In our industry, it’s tough to get work and survive without a godfather so you need to explore options as it’s not possible to survive amidst the tough struggle. This I understood after working in the South film industry.”

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