Recently seen in web film Monica, O My Darling, actor Zayn Marie Khan admits that as a youngster it was not easy for her to understand and appreciate her lineage which belonged to a family of Hindi film stars and directors.
Daughter of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak director Mansoor Khan and niece of Aamir Khan, she says, “When in college I used to deny outright that nai nai mein woh nai hu… And as I was studying in Chennai it gave me the opportunity to keep that recognition at bay. It was on behest of one of my teachers that I went on the stage for the first time and trust me it was magical. That whole experience just blew me away and I was like this is what I want to do in future,” says the Mrs Serial Killer and Feels Like Ishq actor.
Marie shares that as there are no female actors in her family it was tricky for her to convince her father. “Once I made up my mind and told my family about it, the most apprehensive among them was my dad. He’s such a sweetheart he couldn’t sleep that whole night and came knocking to my room at 3 am. He was like, ‘No qualms if you want to be an actor, problem is the fame issues it brings along. If you promise nothing will change and you wouldn’t let things get into your head, you can surely go ahead.’ So that has been my guiding point and I have solely been concentrating on my work and am enjoying the process of acting.”
She joined the industry as an assistant director for Kapoor & Sons and some parts in Secret Superstar.
“Aamir (Khan) cha has been really appreciative of my work. It was while assisting for the latter that I got my calling to join films. I assisted for some parts and realised that I wanted to be in front of the camera. Then I started auditioning and bagged a role for the film Mrs Serial…”
At present Marie is enjoying the good reviews coming her way for her latest release. “Working with likes of Rajkummar (Rao, as his sister), Huma (Qureshi) and Radhika (Apte) could have been daunting but as I believe in focussing on my part and it was more than a learning for me, I took it in my stride. I call myself a method actor so I prep a lot and once I have my character in hand I don’t let my focus deviate,” says the Aryan and Meera actor who has already shot for three more projects in last few months.
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