EXCLUSIVE! Salman Khan Told Me You Will Go Places: Vikram Vedha Actress Yogita Bihani

When actress Yogita Bihani shot a promo for Dus Ka Dum with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in 2018, little did she know that her life was never going to be the same! Her ad stint landed her the female lead opposite Karan Kundrra in Ekta Kapoor's TV show Dil Hi Toh Dil Hai.

Her portrayal of a middle class girl, Dr Palak Sharma struck a chord with the audience, and fans also appreciated her chemistry with her co-star Karan. A few ads later, Yogita made her big screen debut with Anil Kapoor-Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor's black comedy AK VS AK in 2020.

Currently, Yogita is basking in appreciation for her portrayal of Chanda in Hrithik Roshan-Saif Ali Khan's neo-noir crime thriller Vikram Vedha.

Recently, in an exclusive tête-à-tête with Filmibeat, Yogita walked down the memory lane and recalled how working with Salman Khan proved to be a turning point in her career.

The actress told us, "I remember that I was sitting on my bed when I got a call that I had been finalised for Dus Ka Dum ad and would be shooting with Salman Khan. I started jumping with joy. I wasn't nervous but excited for it. Nitesh Tiwari was directing that ad. I thought of it as a great opportunity to work with these two people. I consider it to be the biggest milestone of my life."

Elaborating on how the ad helped her to bag her first TV show Dil Hi Toh Dil Hai, Yogita continued, "I think sometimes luck also plays a very vital role. There were two ads that they had shot; one was with me and other was another person. My ad was released first and during that period, Sony TV was launching two shows. If my ad had released two weeks later, I wouldn't have bagged Ekta Kapoor's show because they had to finalise the lead in a week."

The Vikram Vedha actress said that she had a nice experience with Salman Khan and the latter even gave her some advice.

Yogita further shared with us that she had also auditioned for Aayush Sharma's debut film LoveYatri. However, she lost the role to Warina Hussain as the makers wanted to cast an actress who looked like someone who was from the US.

"I was among the top five girls shortlisted for LoveYatri. When Salman saw my face, he was like, 'I have seen you.' When I told him that I had acted with him in that ad, he recognised me but the makers wanted somebody who looked like a girl from US. He told me, 'You are a great actor. You know, you are going to go places.' I remember that vividly," the actress got nostalgic while speaking.

Speaking about how Salman Khan's Dus Ka Dum promo changed her life, Yogita told us, "So, from that day to the next ten days, I was in a different world where I was getting numerous calls to feature in ads. I was being offered TV shows by many production houses. I suddenly found myself at Balaji Telefilm's office doing meetings, having script narrations at midnight, and doing trials. It just happened to me overnight."

Yogita who was selected amongst Top 3 contestants in Femina Miss India Rajasthan 2018, had to drop out of the contest because she signed Dil Hi Toh Dil Hai.

"For me, acting was a bigger passion than becoming a beauty pageant winner. Miss India is something which I really respect and I think if I would have gotten a chance, it would have really done great things to my career. It would have helped me in a lot of things that I want to do generally in life in terms of contributing to the world and the society. But, I think that I can still do that through acting. This is more of my passion. The process followed and today, I am here," Yogita signed off.