Alizeh : Initially I was not keen on acting!

#Alizeh is a unique name which has multiple meanings like, ‘#GiftofGod’, ‘Wind’, ‘Breeze’. #AlizehAgnihotri is a new entrant in the film industry who has a strong lineage. She is a grand daughter of #SalimKhan of Salim-Javed fame, niece of #SalmanKhan, #ArbaazKhan and #SohailKhan. Her parents are #AlviraKhanAgnihotri who is a sister of Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan and is a film producer as well as a fashion designer. Atul Agnihotri, who is an actor, director and producer is Alizeh’s father. Obviously acting is in her blood and she has creative genes. Alizeh debuted, recently, with a film called ‘#Farrey’ which was critically acclaimed and her performance was praised by everybody.

Talking about her childhood Alizeh schooled with Dhirubhai Ambani International School and completed her graduation from DG Ruparel College of Arts in Mumbai. Alizeh played a small role as a child artist in a 2008 movie ‘Hello’, which was based on Chetan Bhagat novel ‘One Night @ the Call Centre’, starring Sharman Joshi, Amrita Arora, Sohail Khan, Isha Koppikar, Arbaaz Khan, Gul Panag, Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan. Later Alizeh pursued modelling and worked for clothing labels, Being Human and Seema Khan.

Alizeh’s maternal uncle Salman Khan produced a film called ‘Farrey’ of which Atul Agnihotri and Alvira Khan Agnihotri too were producers. Alizeh debuted with this film which had other new actors namely, Sahil Mehta, Zeyn Shaw and Prasanna Bisht. The film talks about what today’s teenagers think. Very few films of this genre and/or age-group are being made. It’s based on real life incidents. Our Sr Editor Keerti Kadam interacted with Alizeh. Excerpts…

‘Farrey’ is an off beat name. What does it mean?
Farrey is a commonly used word for cheating in the Northern parts of our country. It actually means cheating during school or college examinations. Even I wasn’t aware of this word. During the workshops this word cropped up and it was decided to use it as a title. Almost everyone indulges in cheating during examinations. Earlier chits were used but now with modern technologies even its nature has changed.

Our film ‘Farrey’ is used to showcase the diversities of economic stature of students. Today’s youth believes in ‘fast results’. They want everything faster. The film shows the dilemmas of students of various categories. Even if one is loaded, getting everything is not guaranteed. It’s a case of Haves and Have Nots. Cheating in any form, especially during exams, is disagreeable and our film does not promote cheating or Farrey.

Have you been part of Farrey in real life?
Yes and No. Everyone goes through the predicament while appearing for exams. I too once tried to indulge in Farrey. I had written answers on chits which I carried with me. But somehow I did not have the courage to take them out. I was horrified with the thought that the rustling noise of the paper may alert the examiner and I’ll get caught. So I did not copy. I got less marks in that paper. Later I thought that if I had ‘Farreyed’, I would have scored better marks. But whatever happens, happens for good and I have no regrets today.

How was the feeling during the release time?
Frankly, it was a dream come true moment. I was not anxious during the shoot or even later. But when the release date was approaching I started experiencing anxiety. There were butterflies in the stomach, there was nervousness. Of course I was excited too. In fact it was ‘Anxitement’, a combination of Anxiety and Excitement. It was a phase where I couldn’t know whether I was happy, frightened or something else. And despite all this I was happy too. I tried to take everything as it came.

You are, on a daily basis, surrounded by stars, superstars. Was acting on your mind from the beginning?
No. Initially I was not keen on acting. But I was sure that I’ll be doing something in the creative arena, say direction or production etc. I was more interested in behind the camera stuff and acting was not on my mind at all. I did give it a thought and as a preparation, I started doing acting workshops. I was not doing any film that time. I had made reels of my audition clips and started sending it to directors, producers. My parents were more than happy thinking that “Apni beti ko kuch to karna aata hai”.

When Farrey was being produced by my parents, even then I was not part of its acting team. Later I was coaxed into doing this film and started attending workshops. Gradually my interest in acting started growing and I totally immersed myself in my character in the film. The director, Soumendra Padhi who has won a National Award for Jamtara: Sabka Number Aayega’, wanted us to do maximum number of workshops. He gave us freedom to improvise. It helped me in understanding the character thoroughly and the build up of it. It helped gauge the mannerisms, the physicality and the thought process of the character under different situations. All of us knew the script by heart. We used to improvise a lot and when we went on set, it helped us. Frankly we all got a lot of time for preparations. It’ll not be the case with other projects.

Your father, Atul Agnihotri, was an actor too. What advice did he give you?
He is extremely happy that I am a part of the film industry. He told me to work with passion. He says that your mind and heart should be at one place. You should be aware why you are doing a certain thing. He started acting at the age of 16. That time his aim was to earn money. He regrets now that he had to work out of compulsion and not for the love or passion for acting. He wants us not to repeat that mistake. Frankly, he was a very good actor but unfortunately he couldn’t pursue it for long. He is extremely proud and happy for me and says that Farrey is his favourite film.