Sunday July 31, 2005
Bollywood dreams
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Jessy: "It’s sad that people tend to look at me differently just because I was a beauty queen … I’m able to juggle various tasks apart from beauty-related events." |
Sporting a black top, matching skirt and pretty pink earrings, the 23-year-old actress looked stunning.
Jasminder or “Jessy” is no stranger in town. In 2002, she was crowned Miss Malaysia/India Worldwide.
Winning the pageant opened doors for this bubbly lass from Kelana Jaya, Selangor.
Modelling contracts poured in, and soon her pretty face was gracing the glossy magazines – Her World, Radiance, Perempuan and Ezy Health.
Her stock appreciated further when she landed the job of hosting Ntv7’s music chart show Arena Bollywood in January 2004, which she did for one season.
Her biggest break came when she was one of Astro’s presenters for the Olympic Games 2004.
“It was a mind-blowing experience. Despite the long hours and pressure, being an Olympics presenter was very uplifting and made me realise that my true passion lies in the media industry.
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Jessy: "Being an Olympics presenter was very uplifting. It made me realise that my true passion lies in the media industry." |
“CNN always called out to me and still does,” said Jessy with a warm smile.
Although Jessy holds a degree in Computing/Multimedia, she confessed to having a preference for broadcasting more than technical sciences.
‘‘I did my degree to ‘pacify’ my folks. They weren’t too pleased when I told them I wanted to do mass communication,” said the only child of a human resource consultant while mum is a real estate agent.
“But I always had my heart set on acting, hosting, broadcasting,” said Jessy, who just completed her newsreading training at RTM, aiming to be TV1’s presenter for the Bahasa Malaysia news bulletins.
In February 2004, she made her foray into acting when she was offered a role in English TV drama Father which starred veteran Hindi actor Kabir Bedi, Jalaluddin Hassan and Yasmin Yussuf.
Last November, she was the lead actress in the TV2 drama Esok.
She also appears occasionally in TV1’s docu-drama On Call.
Early this year, she secured a spot in popular TV2 soap opera Mahligai Gading in which she plays Rani, an ambitious British-Malaysian going through a series of misfortunes in her life.
With her looks and talent, Jessy is hoping to break into Bollywood.
“I want to give Bollywood a shot, provided they have a movie that’s different from the usual song and dance.
“I want to be diverse. I don’t want to be thought of as a bimbo actress. It’s really sad that people tend to look at me differently just because I was a beauty queen.
“I’m out to prove that I’m intelligent and able to juggle various tasks apart from beauty-related events.”
Apart from acting and TV hosting, Jessy has also ventured into theatre, making her debut in J.D. Menon’s Twinkle Tara, which was staged in Kuala Lumpur last May. Jessy played the lead role in this emotional saga that revolved around a pair of conjoined twins and explored the mother-child relationship amid cultural taboos, gender preference and social expectations.
“In theatre, there’s no room for mistakes. Television is different because you can always re-shoot if you slip up. But there’s more freedom in theatre and it’s how you interpret each character.”
Away from work, Jessy spends time with her parents and relatives. This chatty homebody likes to cook and reveals that Italian and traditional Punjabi dishes are among her specialities.
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Jessy with the main team of the Twinkle Tara play comprising (from left) director J.D. Menon, actor Adam Lobo and playwright Mahesh Dattani. |
Jessy is also a council member of the Miss Malaysia/India Care Association (Mica), a body that helps the development of women and children through education and charity programmes. She is the international relations director and oversees issues related to cross-cultural programmes.
“Life is short and I have to play hard,” she said. “I don’t want to have regrets when I’m old.”
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