Actress Sameera Reddy has never been shy about talking about the challenges she faced before making her mark in Bollywood. Although acting was never part of her original plan, she found herself entering the industry after appearing in Pankaj Udhas’ hit 2000 music video titled Ahista Kijiye Baatein.
The song’s popularity eventually paved the way for her acting debut opposite Sohail Khan in Maine Dil Tujhko Diya (2002). Looking back, Samira recently revealed that the experience wasn’t glamorous at all, recalling extreme anxiety during filming, and opening up about her lifelong struggle with stuttering.Speaking to Hauterrfly, Samira went back to the first day of filming and admitted that she was overwhelmed with fear. “After shooting a music video randomly, I came back and it became a great song. I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ I used to have a lot of panic attacks in the beginning. When I did my first film ‘Maine Dil Tujhko Diya’, I remember the first take. Aishwarya Rai and
Salman Khan
Everyone is sitting there. They were producing the film and Sohail Khan was with me.
Describing the nerve-racking moment, she added: “I remember all I had to say was: ‘Why don’t you go?’ As soon as he said the action, she mumbled the dialogue. I was very afraid, and my hands were shaking and sweating. But I remember my therapist saying, “What scares you?” If you break it you’ll break a lot of other scary things. “This is what I teach my children.”The actress also reflected on living with a speech impediment since childhood and explained how she gradually learned to embrace it instead of fearing judgement.
“Today as a person who stutters, I can tell if someone is stuttering. But I know deep down that I would, what’s the big deal? Are you going to laugh? So what’s going to happen? I’m sitting here, you’re all watching me. That’s what I think,” she said.Samira also spoke about being subjected to color discrimination during her first film, and revealed that her skin was intentionally altered on screen. “In my first film, *Maine Dil Tujhko Diya*, I was made two to three shades lighter. I looked almost grey! I used to wear full-body makeup to match my face color to my body. Do you know how many women have it in their families? Her parents and in-laws say: ‘You are dark or fat.’
‘ what the hell! Who gave the definition of beauty? I confessed.
