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Most of us came to know of Gracy through 'Gauri'- the effervecent "gaon ki gori" and the heroin of Lagaan (unless off-course you saw "Amaanat" on Zee before hand). But in reality who is Gracy Singh? What is she like? Is she like Gauri or perhaps like Neha Mathur in real-life? Well, these are questions I had in my mind... And so I began my biography of my favourite star:

Gracy and proud mum

Gracy is a Punjabi Delhite. Despite a western-sounding name (just like that of her siblings), Gracy hails from a simple sikh family, whose background has not been in the arts. Gracy though, is of the creative sort - always having wanted to do something artistic like singing, dancing, or designing. But never acting though. During her schooling years, she joined a "Jazz-fusion" dance troupe called "the Planets", based in Delhi, doing shows with them for a few years. And then came college. It was now, while juggling college, some "chalta-phirta" modelling, fashion designing and dance, that Gracy landed her big break.

During the course of some modelling work, Gracy met veteran make-up man Pandari Dada. He got her in touch with director Sanjeev Bhattacharya, who at that very time was looking for fresh faces to cast in his new TV serial - "Amaanat" (on Zee TV), a story of a Punjabi family. And sure enough Gracy got a part in it. But this was only to be for a lark - a "one-off", since acting as a career was still not on the cards. She soon moved to Mumbai to fulfil her "Amaanat" comittments.

Her Mumbai move though, had more in stock for her, than just a twist in her career - it was also a course in self-development. Gone were the care-free days she had lived with her parents and siblings, in a cosy Delhi home. Now she had to cook for herself, and take charge of day to day chores. Added to that she had never acted before and didn't even know if she could act. Fortunately "Amaanat's" director was a pro at casting newcomers as well as grooming them. Gracy says "I learnt a lot and how to communicate on screen and doing 150 episodes was a great practice and what I'd consider my schooling". Gracy soon realised that she was very comfortable in front of the camera and that the nuances of emoting, came about naturally.

Related Links: + Gracy's favourite travel spot: Bidar Click Here + Gracy the Dancing Queen Click Here + Gracy on her Lagaan Adventure Click Here + Cooking with Gracy Click Here + Gracy plays Radha Click Here + Gracy on Money Click Here

What started out as a lark soon became a serious proposition in life. Gracy's popularity in Amaanat, and an ever keen manager - Mr Joshi (PA to many famous film stars over the last 35 years) who wanted to see her in films rather than teleserials, became the catalyst. Mr Joshi's perseverence lead to her introduction to Ashutosh Gowariker, who was screen testing for the lead female role opposite Aamir Khan for Lagaan. After numerous screen tests and one telephone call one early morning, Gracy was all set to walk the "yellow brick road" to Bollywood. And as the saying goes the rest is history!

After six gruelling months in Bhuj's oppressive heat by day, frozen nights, strict work schedules, a landscape devoid of familiar ice cream parlours, cars, building and asphalt roads, sand granules in food and all, Gracy emerged from shooting Lagaan, all the more wiser, and satisfied that the final product of all that toil, would be a gem of a movie. And then came June the 1st, 2001, Lagaan was released in India. The film was among the best in the history of post-independent India, and making her very noticeable debut in it was a cute village belle who would win the hearts of many Indians around the world. That year Lagaan was chosen unanimously to represent India at the Oscars. The sheer calibre of the film, and the efforts of all those who were involved in it, can be appreciated by the fact that the  film made it to the final nominations for the "Best Foreign Film" category - only the second time that an Indian film received the honour, after the 1950s master piece "Mother India". Lagaan sadly missed out on the Oscar.

The long wait between the close of shooting of Lagaan and its release, gave Gracy the perfect excuse to revisit her all time passion of dance. This time she would take up Bharatnatyam seriously (even though most would have taken her for a classical dancer just by watching "Radha Kaise Na Jale"). Gracy is a great admirer of Hema Malini, and she's even learning from her guru Deepak Majumdar. "I want to pursue dance, do more shows, even in films want to do dance roles. I would love to perform in Hema Malini's troupe." says Gracy. "I told her that. I would even love to act with her in films. She said 'definitely'. She complemented me after my arangetram show. She's like a queen for me. She's my idol. I would like to be a dancer like her - I always looked at her more as a dancer than an actress". Incidently Gracy plays the role of a professional classical dancer in her upcoming movie "Yehi Hai Zindegi".

So how is Miss Gracy Singh really like. Well I think she is a most admirable and down to earth person. And, I hope she is a mixture of both Neha Mathur and Gauri - confident, witty Don't ever change. I hope she picks classical And I hope she will visit Australia and perform with her own dance troupe.

 .:: GO BAWA GO!! :: :: T HREE CHEERS FOR GRACY!! ::.