Hindi cinema has many actors who came from abroad. Few speak as openly as Geeta Basra about how hard the language was at the start. At a recent event, the actress best known for 'The Train' looked back on her journey. She described an English-born girl with one fixed dream who had to learn Hindi from scratch to make it in Hindi cinema.
Basra was born in England and moved to India to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an actress. She said that dream never changed.
"Everything is God's plan. I have had a vision since childhood. During my childhood, whenever anybody asked me what I'd like to become when I grow up, someone said 'doctor, lawyer', I just had one dream, to become an actor. Today, I'm also a mother," she said.
Learning the language of her craft
For actors raised outside India, Hindi is often an obstacle few people notice. It affects auditions, dialogue delivery and how comfortable they feel on set. Basra did not downplay how far behind she started.
"Earlier, I didn't know how to speak Hindi, but it's been a journey of learning. I didn't know a word of how to speak the language, but I've learned," she shared.
She described the effort as part of her job. "I have worked on it because it's my craft," she said. Many diaspora actors in Bollywood will recognise this experience. They usually have to fix their Hindi before the industry takes them seriously, and the work they put in is rarely visible to audiences.
When destiny stepped in
The actress then talked about her personal life, and the mood turned lighter. "Then, it was all destiny. Bhajji came into my life, he liked my poster, and it was love at first sight for him," she added, referring to cricketer Harbhajan Singh, whom she later married.
Fans have long loved the couple's story, and Basra's account of it, starting with a poster and the cricketer being smitten, added a touch of filmi romance to an otherwise reflective conversation.
A career across two industries
Over the years, Basra has built a presence in both Hindi and Punjabi cinema. Her filmography includes 'The Train', 'Zila Ghaziabad', 'Joe B Carvalho' and 'Mehar', among others. Moving between the two industries required her to work comfortably in more than one Indian language, which makes her account of learning Hindi more meaningful.
Her comments carry a simple message for aspiring actors, especially those from outside India: a lack of fluency does not have to stop them. In Basra's case, a clear goal and steady work on the language were enough to build a career in Indian cinema.
(With inputs from IANS)