shabiha nur khatoon :
Suhani Mohanty, a Class V student in Stewart School, is enjoying her time in the limelight. The moment the cameras turned on her for the first time in 2013, she grabbed an offer to play the character of Shri in the tele serial ‘Swabhimaan’. The year 2014 proved to be a lucky one for Suhani as it brought her accolades like Tarang Parivaar Awards and Ghoonghru Awards for remarkable performances in TV serials.
Suhani told Orissa Post that bagging the role of Shri was by no means a cakewalk. “At the auditions, there was a tie between me and another girl. To choose between the two of us the jury decided to give us both a script that we were asked to enact instantaneously.”
The Class V student emerged as the final choice at the last round of the auditions thanks to her mind-blowing performance. The serial ‘Swabhimaan’ ran successfully for two years and after it Suhani became a household name in the state.
After ‘Swabhimaan’ Suhani did a cameo role in the serial ‘Toh Aangana Tulasi Mu’. The name of her character in the TV soap was Radha.
Suhani has also appeared in a couple of commercials for both government and private agencies in which she has had the opportunity to share screen space with celebrities of the Oriya film industry like Meghna Mishra.
Suhani, who is the eldest child of her parents, says 2016 is turning out to be a special year for her. “In the beginning of the year I got my first movie break. So I know it is going to be very special for me. In the movie I will be working with the Oriya film industry’s super hit couple Barsha and Anubhav. The title of the film, in which I am portraying the childhood of the heroine, is yet to be finalised. Till now only the promo shoot of the movie has been done. The icing on the cake is ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ actor Salman Khan will do a cameo in the film,” says Suhani.
Acting apart, the little star loves dancing and is currently learning free style and contemporary from Padmini Patnaik. Padmini and her partner Debashish Sahoo proved their talents in the reality show ‘India’s Dancing Superstars’ aired on Star Plus in 2013. Suhani and her troupe reached the semi-final of a dance reality show on Tarang.
How does the 10-year-old manage to prove her talent in every field? Suhani has an easy explanation: “Initially it might seem that excelling in different fields is way too tough but if you have the determination to succeed, I guess nothing can stop you from reaching your destination. My parents and teachers have always motivated me and helped me a lot to realise my dreams. I am thankful to them for showering their love and blessings on me.”
How exciting or unnerving it was to look into the camera for the first time in life?
“I was a nervous wreck on the first day of shooting for ‘Swabhimaan’ but then Basu Baroda, the director of the show, told me to act as if nobody was watching and to forget that many people were standing around me watching my performance,” says Suhani.
“He told me everybody was very cooperative. He encouraged me to give my best shot and assured me nobody would find faults with my acting. His words of assurance proved to be of great help and everybody congratulated me for my natural acting skills after the shot,” adds the child artiste.
