Mandira Bedi recently shared how she landed her first acting role in Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, despite acting being the last thing on her mind at the time. In a recent interview, Mandira recounted an anecdote from the film's shoot, saying, "Let me tell you, it wasn't fun.
In a conversation with Curly Tales, Mandira Bedi recalled how she landed the role of Shanti. She shared that, unlike her older brother who became a banker after completing his MBA, she initially aimed to follow a similar path but ended up studying media communication at Sophia College. During her studies, she interned at advertising firms, eventually landing an internship at Prahlad Kakkar's office. It was there that she secured her breakout role in the TV show Shanti.
"It was not something I ever imagined or wanted to happen," Mandira said. "I was the most junior intern, a 'go-for'—go for this, go for that, clean this, wipe that. The director and producer of Shanti came to Prahlad Kakkar for an ad film, and they saw me there. I don't know what they saw in me, but they asked me to come for an audition in a business suit. I didn’t own one, so I wore jeans and a t-shirt. They called me back for another audition, and this time, I was returning from lunch in a salwar kameez with a little arrow drawn on my forehead with eyeliner. The director liked the look, saying, ‘This is Shanti.’ For three and a half years and 800-1000 episodes, I wore that arrow, except for a few scenes in the hospital. That's how it happened.
