Sonam: This is her life

by Asjad Nazir

Talented actress Sonam Kapoor has got her- self noticed with good performances on the big screen, her striking looks and eye-catching out- fits that have turned her into a style icon. The appeal of the Bollywood star is such that she is in demand with production houses, big commercial brands and fans who just can’t get enough of that million-dollar smile.

Sonam will be turning a year older next Thursday (9) and to mark the occasion, Eastern Eye decided to put together an alphabetical guide to an actress never far away from the headlines.

A is for Anil Kapoor: The actress is of renowned Bollywood star Anil shares a close bond with him. She on her father’s impressive legacy in said: “I have a lot of fears, but the live up to my father’s name.”

B is for Black: Sonam initially writer/director and landed a job assistant on critically acclaimed film The film’s director Sanjay Leela Sonam’s potential and offered to lead role of his next film Saawariya weighed around 80 kilos at the time vised to lose weight (see W).

C is for Charity: The

big-hearteda lot of philanthropic work and has ness about a number of social causes animal rights and breast cancer. She pated in events including charity raising money for the less fortunate nated clothes for auctions generating for good causes. A lot of her good remained secret. She once said: “I will use charity as a publicity stunt.”

D is for Dream role: When asked dream roles, the actress said: “My role is either Annie Hall or Rosie Guide – Waheeda Rehman’s character Something interesting like that. I that black and white is very easy to it is grey characters that are the difficult. The real ones.”

E is for endorsements: The popular star makes more money from endorsements than she does from acting She has been paid huge sums of money to endorse everything from household products to fashion houses and being a brand ambassador for events. Perhaps her most

highprofile endorsement is being an Indian ambassador for international cosmetics manufacturer L’Oreal F is for Favourites: Some of Sonam’s include reading, dancing and playing Thai cuisine is the food she enjoys chocolate is her all-timeguilty She enjoys romantic films, citing Dulhania Le Jayenge, Titanic, Romeo and Juliet and Gone With Wind as some of her favourites. not working, she most likes spending time at home with her family.

G is for Gowns: The

eye-catchingoutfits the actress wears on the red carpet generate headlines around the world. Son- am has become such a huge style icon (see Q) that the biggest fashion designers line up to dress her for the red carpet at high-profileevents including the Cannes Film Festival. Last year she was invit- ed to be on the front row in Paris at the Armani Privé Couture show in a gorgeous outfit designed by the legendary Italian fashion icon.

H is for Hollywood: Sonam harbours ambitions to follow her father Anil’s footsteps of working in the west. She has actively been looking for a good project and says she will take up an offer from Hollywood if the right one comes along. just in demand to wear striking outfits, but has done a number of

high-profile jewellery endorse- ments. Sonam has been a brand ambassador for India International Jewellery Week. Earlier this year, she signed a big-moneydeal to replace Aish- warya Rai Bachchan as the brand ambassador for leading jewellery company Kalyan.

KisforKhoobsurat:The most

in-demandPakista­ ni actor in Bollywood, Fawad Khan, was launched as the lead opposite Sonam in her home produc- tionKhoobsurat (2014). She championed the ac- tor, saying he had the kind of masculinity that was lacking in a lot of new actors in Indian cinema.

L is for Love life: Although she has been linked with various

high-profile men, Sonam has always never commented . “I have kept my private,” said Sonam. was born in the Mum- June 9, 1985. Her fam- area when she was Sonam’s last rele­ huge critical and com- success. Many feel her of airhostess Neerja the drama based on events was a career- performance. She is sure frontrunner at award next year. Outspoken: Over the the actress has gena lot of headlines comments she has including some-so-kind words about fellow stars, but Sonam does not think she is controversial. She said: “I don’t think I am out- spoken. I am straight­ forward and honest.” P is for Producing: Although her sister Rhea takes the lead role in producing, Son- is actively involved in production complays the lead roles projects, which so far includedAisha and . Her next home Battle For Bittora, is based on the novel same name. for Queen: She may have reached the top as far as acting is concerned, but Sonam undoubtedly the style queen in Bollywood. Her eye-catching sense of style has turned Sonam into a fashion icon and inspired her to launch her own range. She has an in-depthknowledge of international designers and collaborates closely with Rhea when it comes to fashion. Some of her style influences include classic leading ladies Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Audrey Hepburn and Katharine Hepburn. Talking of fashion she said: “One should wear the outfit; the outfit should not wear you. You have to enjoy dressing up.”

R is for Relatives: The actress comes from a famous film family and has a number of

high-profile relatives including first cousin Arjun Kapoor, aunt Sridevi, second cousin Ranveer Singh, uncle Sanjay Kapoor and younger brother Harshvardhan, who is due to make his Bollywood debut in big-budgetfilmMirziyan.

S is for Saawariya: After a lot of training in acting and getting into shape, Sonam was launched opposite fellow debutante Ranbir Kapoor in Saa- wariya (2007). The

big-budgetromantic drama turned out to be a major critical and commercial failure, but still got Sonam a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Female Debut.

T is for Twitter: Sonam is very active on social media and has nearly nine million followers on Twitter. When it comes to expressing an opinion on the

micro-bloggingsite, she doesn’t hold back and has previously sparked controversy with contentious tweets.

U is for United World College: Sonam enrolled into the collage in Singapore when she was 15 to study theatre and arts. “It’s so easy to be a teen- ager in Singapore because you can make mistakes and still be safe. It’s a safe city and you’re stupid at that age,” said Sonam.

V is for Video: Sonam makes a quick cameo appearance in Coldplay’s recent music video Hymn For The Weekend, which has more than 273 million views on YouTube. Defending her

blink-and-you-miss-itmoment, Sonam said: “First of all, I am in a Chris Martin video and I am a huge fan of Coldplay. When I was in high school, I grew up listening to Oasis, Coldplay and U2. And if somebody told me at 16 that I was going to be in a video, I would go, ‘shut up’.”

W is forWeight loss:

The actress has been open about being overweight as a teenager and was just over 80 kgs (176lbs) when her debut filmSaawar- iya was offered to her. She lost 35 kilos to get herself ready for the film.

X is for Xavier: Earlier this year, Sonam inaugurated a special plaque dedicated to the memory of Neerja Bhanot at St Xavier’s College in Mumbai. Neerja, whom Sonam portrayed in the movie of the same name, was a student of Xavier’s Institute of Engineering.

Y is for Younger: Before becoming famous, Son- am worked as a waitress when she was a teenager to earn some extra money. She also confessed to having a rebellious streak as a youngster.

Z is for Zodiac: Sonam is a Gemini. The main traits of the star sign include being energetic, witty, ima­ ginative, adaptable, curious and intelligent.