'Not everybody is as lucky as Katrina'

Femina Miss India Internationa Ankita Shorey takes a dig at the superstar and tells Rajul Hegde of her dreams and aspirations.

Ankita Shorey loves to talk.

The model who just won Miss India International at the recently concluded Femina Miss India doesn't need much prodding. All you have to do is ask her a single-line question and she'll give you a long speech in return.

She tells us that when Fashion released, quite like Priyanka Chopra's character in film, she too was turned away by her relatives with whom she was living in Mumbai at the time.

Chatty and vivacious, Shorey is also a practicing Buddhist. And while she has travelled a lot because of her father's army postings, she largely considers Ladakh where she spent a lot of her childhood, her home.

Read on and find out everything you wanted to know about Ankita Shorey!

Now that you've won the title, what is the next on your agenda?

I will focus completely on the international pageant and I am sure that I want to win the crown.

So far I was fighting for myself, working for myself and speaking for myself to win the crown. But now I will be fighting and speaking up for my country.

Today I have made my family and friends proud but tomorrow I want the entire nation to be proud of me.

After winning the title, the expectations are high so I have to doubly work hard.

How are you preparing for the international pageant?

Very soon the trainers from the panel will start grooming us.

Dentists will correct our smiles and help us to enhance it to create magic on stage!

Sabeena Merchant will help us with diction and communication, designer costumes, everything will add to our presence on the stage.

For this pageant, we worked only for a month but for the Miss International, we will have to work for four months.

How important is education according to you? Have you completed your graduation?

I have graduated in History from Delhi. However I feel that learning has nothing to do with education.

You can learn even when you are not educated.

Having said that I also feel it's very important to have an education because if you don't make it into something you've dreamt of, you can always fall back on it.

What was your backup plan if you didn't win this title?

Do you think you can give 100 per cent to something when you are thinking of another option? When you tell yourself you want to do this you do it!

When did you realise that you wanted to be in the glamour business?

I always knew I wanted to be an actress. I have done a couple of TV commercials and also freelanced as a VJ for MTV.

I remember when I was four, I used to watch movies and tell my mom muje woh banah hai! And she would tell phele doctor ban jana baad mein woh banjana. (First become a doctor then do what you please). 

I come from theatre background -- I am being privately trained under theatre director Rashid Ansari for films and theatre. I am also doing my masters in Bharatanatyam. I have the good looks and the beauty but to become a star you also have to be a good actor.

I think one should really focus on enhancing one's skills because just being beautiful will not take your places. Not everybody is as lucky as Katrina Kaif.

I know I really need to work hard towards it and I don't want to leave any stone unturned.

I just want to be perfect so nobody can point fingers at me and say I don't know how to act or dance.

So how much you have you struggled to reach this spot?

Struggle is a wrong word. I would say I have travelled a lot to get to where I am. Struggle is something you do when you know that you are not good at it. But in life you have to work hard to get what you want.

Ok so how much of hard work did you put in to reach here?

A lot! I think the one contestant who really deserves to be here is me.

My father is in the Army and I was mostly brought up in Ladakh. I have never ever lived without my family till about two years ago when I came to Mumbai. At the time I had no job offers in hand. I have lived in very difficult situations but I have come out of it.

Could you describe to us that phase of your life?

I came to Mumbai and stayed with my relatives.

Around the time, Fashion released. After watching the movie they got paranoid and suddenly they didn't want me to be in their house anymore!

They pressurised me to leave the house and return home. I stayed on in Mumbai. I told my dad that I was a fighter, would fight it out and not return at any cost.

I lived in a temple for three days. After that I got a small room in the Army Officers Institute at Juhu (in suburban Mumbai). It was very small room with a small deewan. I stayed there for 21 days.

I have never believed in pressuring my parents so I broke my savings and rented out a place. When I was sick, there was nobody to take care of me. At that point I wanted to save money too so I didn't have a maid and did all the household chores.

It took me at least couple of months to get some work. Finally, Elite Model Management signed me on. Then there was no looking back.

All this has taught me a lot and made me a better person today. Today I have a flat in (the plush Mumbai suburb of) Bandra.

What was your first salary? Where did you get it from?

I used to paint and sculpt when I was in school. When I was in the eighth grade I exhibited my work and made some Rs 600 for one of my paintings. I didn't spend that money.

Instead I asked my father to save it for me. For my first TV commercial, I got a cheque of Rs 55,000, which I used to pay off my house rent.

What was your parent's reaction when you told them that you want to become a model?

My parents were always supportive. Dad always told me that he would never tell me what field to opt for. He told me to be the best in whatever field I chose.

Are you comfortable wearing Bikini?

Actually I am very conscious and not very comfortable flaunting a bikini in public. I do have a few pictures in a bikini but they were done privately and were shot in the presence of just a photographer and a make-up artist who I am comfortable with.

I had never walked in bikini before a stranger till now. I was conscious then and continue to be that way. Let's see how I will take it forward.

Do you see yourself being part of a bikini calendar?

Absolutely! As I said if it is in private I am okay with it. Whenever they shoot for a bikini calendar it's only a photographer, make-up artist and a stylist. But to walk on the ramp in a bikini before hundreds of people is a different thing.

Can you give some tips for aspiring models?

Do not fool yourself by thinking that you can become a model. Everybody wakes up and thinks that they too can be models, which creates lots of frustration and disappointment if things don't work out.

You should really know your calibre. Look at yourself in the mirror as an outsider and then decide whether you can be a model at all

What are the qualities that a Miss India should have?

A Miss India should be a package that everybody can derive an inspiration from.

We have to set an example for other batches to follow. We have to be perfect in everything -- be it communication, onstage presence or beauty.