It was a chance meeting that propelled Sonali Sharma, 22, into the stiff archlights of modelling, though her dream remains to be an actress.
By Asmita Aggarwal
She never thought that an opportunity would come knocking on her door when she was a flight stewardess in Vistara Airlines. But height and destiny both played a part, she was five feet 11 inches tall and Purple Thoughts, a modelling agencys founder Akansha spotted her while she was the cabin crew on a flight to Mumbai. There was as they say, no looking back after that as Sonali Sharma took a different kind of flight.
Interestingly, Sonali shares a hometown with current Bollywood missile Kangana Ranaut, in Himachal Pradesh and also a love for films, as growing up all she wanted to do was be an actress. Modelling kind of is paving the way for her childhood desire to come true. I was born in Himachal, but my dad got a job with Jai Bharat Maruti, as DGM so we shifted to Gurgoan, she adds.
But Himachal still lives in her memory, with the mountains, apple orchards and the lush greenery, even though she finds it hard to stay there due to the slow pace of life. After Colonel Central Academy School, Sonali completed her B. Com from IP University, where she won a campus placement to be an air hostess. However, the family insisted that she complete her graduation, which she did. I am a home body, I have a small group of friends whom I grew up with and I stick to. Also while growing up my parents were really over protective so going out was almost impossible with strict time deadlines and close supervision, she admits.
Though what she missed most in college was sports as school life won her many medals in long and high jump due to her tall, svelte frame. Sports disciplines you and enables you to deal with winning and losing with equanimity. What really helps in life is if you have a continuous support system; I love my younger brother, who is studying engineering from Dehradun. We are a close knit family so most of spare time is spent watching films at home and hoping for a dream role to come my way, she exclaims.
Even though the future in uncertain, Sonali believes that everything happens for a reason and when the time is right. I never thought I would be walking the ramp or even modelling, so I have faith and I know there is a bigger plan that is yet to unfold, she concludes.