Sudhir spends a lot of time with the actors : Sonia

You are granddaughter of the legendary singer Noor Jehan. Didn't you ever get attracted towards singing like your grandmother?
I do sing, I sang as a child. I called my grandmother dadu. When I was living with her in Lahore she used to do her riyaz every morning. I used to sit with her and babaji who was our trainer.

So you learnt it professionally?
I studied singing for three years. She (Noorjahan) was very keen that I pursue it because she thought that I was the only person in the family who had her voice. Why didn't I pursue....I don't know. I personally feel that when you are a child, you don't think of your future seriously. You are more carefree, you want to play with your friends and have other interests. Unfortunately I didn't take it seriously. I wish I had. As a hobby I would still sing but not professionally.

How good a singer are you?
I am not bad but I need a lot of training.

Where did you spend your childhood?
Partly in France, Pakistan and partly in London.

So what attracted you to India?
I never planned to come to India. I was offered Taj Mahal , I came for the audition and I got the role. I stayed back as I was already dating someone in India. I met my husband in London when I was in college. I keep joking that I have done a peace process between India and Pakistan. He is into finance, a different world altogether. I am the arty person in the family and he is the financial banker type. It is great fun because we travel a lot. He travels for his work and I travel for mine. When we come back, we have a lot to talk about. We learn a lot from each other. There's no time for boredom.

Actresses hardly talk about their marriage...
I am happily married and I have no issues admitting it. I was told by a lot of people in the industry to not mention about my marriage. I don't understand why marriage is considered such a taboo in the industry... I don't see why being married would affect me as an actor. I mean my work is my work and my personal life is my personal life. I prefer not to talk about it in depth, but yes I am married and I do work whenever it comes my way.

What is your last name after marriage?
Narain. I use it in my everyday life. If I am going to buy groceries then I am Sonia Narain. But if I am doing a film then I am Sonia Jehan. I am a normal human being. I go to the dry cleaners, go to the market, I do everything.
That comes from the fact that I was brought up by my grandmother who was a diva. People were in awe of her, and they were so star-struck. But behind closed doors I know what she was all about; she was a very normal person. During summer time we would eat mangoes in the afternoon sitting on the floor.

And when somebody came to meet her she would be putting on make-up because she was a diva, and I would wonder what happened to dadu , where has she gone.

You have done modeling in Pakistan. Why didn't you try for films there?
I think you might know that the film industry in Pakistan is not at all advanced like in India. If I am here, why would I want to do something which is not as good? The Bollywood industry is great, it's huge. I can't see my self living in Lahore being part of that fraternity, being part of Lollywood.

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