‘We go to school to study & enjoy’

For 11-year-old Sejal Gupta, the camera is her new best friend. In the field of acting for the last three years, this Class 6 student from RIMT World School, Manimajra, has to her credit ad shoots, song videos, web series and films. Seen in Peshawar, which was released on December 16, this child actor is also a trained dancer.

Sushmita Sen is Sejal’s idol, she explains why. “She is a Miss Universe and one day I want to be a Miss World.” Why she picks Sen over other beauty queens, Sejal says, “She is so tall and she is so dignified in her behaviour, I want to be like her.”

Inclined to be a model and a dancer, encouraged by her parents, Sejal is learning Kathak and western dance forms. An ad brought along an acting assignment that she thoroughly enjoyed. “I remember I was so confused in front of the camera for my first time around, now I am super confident. Back from the shoot of Kun Faya Kun, Sejal is happy to have spent a month at Mahableshwar. “It was a thriller, there was a waterfall nearby. I totally loved it!” Kun Faya Kun has Harshvardhan Rane and Sanjeeda Shaikh and Sejal bonded well with them. “Harshvardhan bhaiya and Sanjeeda didi are very friendly, I loved acting with them,” she says.

Starting shows with Kya Haal, Mr. Paanchal?, Sejal is all kicked about the release of her latest show, Peshawar. She plays Khwala, a girl who was killed along with other children in the infamous attacks. “I was very happy to bag the project, but knowing the story made me very sad. We go to school to study and enjoy, to imagine something like that happening makes me feel so sad. But what made me do the role was that I play Khwala, a very helpful, encouraging girl!”

Though determined to make it big in the world of entertainment, Sejal misses going to school and meeting her friends every day. What makes up for it is learning how to bake at home and playing sports with her cousin and father!

— Mona