and she has no idea of how much
this day was awaited by those who love her
to let her know how wonderful she is
and blessed they feel to have her in their lives
cos her very smile is the essence of sunshine
and she is as gorgeous as the moon
wanna know who she is
guess
oh wait
here she comes the bday girl herself
its none other then our very own darling Sanaya
On 17th September 1983, a baby girl was born.
She grew up to be sweet, cute, bubbly, bindaas, fun loving yet
completely down to earth girl,
with the ability to bring a smile onto almost anyone's face just by her sheer presence, her liveliness and her zest for life.
She also grew to be one of the most stunningly beautiful actresses on Indian television and movie screen, with a persona that simply shines on screen.
just two years ago to be precise, another girl was born.
She wasn't born as a baby ' she sprang to full blown adult teenager life on our screens, in the form of a quiet, shy, academically brilliant, socially inept, scared, timid girl ' you name it, all the clichs in the book applied to her.
Including ' in addition to all those handicaps (yes, being academically brilliant IS a handicap for a girl) she also ' horror of horrors, wore specs!
And she was supposed to be a plain Jane. 'Supposed to be' '
So what do these two girls have in common?
Almost nothing ' except they share the same face.
For the first ' Sanaya ' plays the second ' Gunjan, and has been playing her for almost two years, and in the process has given us a completely unique, different and beautiful character that we have all fallen in love with '
and even more so, when we found what the actress who played her was really like!
When I saw Sanaya unplugged for the first time, I couldn't believe my eyes, and it made my respect, admiration and adoration for her as an actress grow a thousand-fold (and that's a conservative estimate!).
What's Sanaya like ' the real Sanaya?
We've caught glimpses through all the offscreen interviewswe've seen andwhat comes across is a simply amazing person with an unparalleled zest for life and filled with the joy of living, being happy, making the most of whatever situation she's in and spreading that happiness among her friends and costars.
She's bindaas, lively, chirpy, a complete live wire
. She livens up the atmosphere just by being there. She's fun loving and free spirited ' I remember the first April Fool's day and the joke the unit played on her ' her annoyance at first, and then what really made me love her ' the way she accepted the joke in complete good humour and fun.
She's down to earth and humble to the point of being self-depreciating ' in one of her interviews, when asked to rate herself as an actress, she replied ' 2 on 10 ' which tells me that not only is she modest, but also that she sets amazingly high standards for herself. And that she's hungry to learn, to grow, to achieve more and more. From her foray into ZND, and the subsequent SBS, we saw how openly and honestly she accepts her weaknesses, and from her role in the show, it's very obvious how hard she's worked to overcome them ' though that part Sanaya will never talk about.
Thomas Edison once remarked '"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration" ' Sanaya seems to have taken that one to heart. The fun is all she mentions ' the hard work is there, it has to be done, it comes with the job and is not to be tomtommed ' like when she carried on shooting when she had high fever and such a bad throat that her voice had to be dubbed, or when she shot even when down with malaria ' she might be unwell, but being a successful actor and part of a successful show has its demands, and she carries them out uncomplainingly. So another quality that I really admire ' she's hard working to the core.
She's friendly with everyone, has no starry attitude at all ' in many interviews and offscreen moments, we've seen how she cheerfully hangs out with the crew, asks them to ask her for autographs, and gets her leg pulled about it very cheerfully.
Same with her asking the entire unit for a rose on Rose Day ' begging for roses, rather - and laughing as Mohit announced her idiosyncrasies to the world on camera. Her interview with Telly Tadka was one of the funniest and most enjoyable ones on any actress, again with her laughing cheerfully at herself all through.
You'll never catch Sanaya praising herself ' she either accepts her faults, or puts herself down ' but she never ever says a bad word about anyone else.
And we saw this even in Meethi Churri ' a show where girls are supposed to bitch about each other, pass sharp, biting remarks ' the only remarks Sanaya passed were about herself. When the other girls ganged up against Reshmi, Sanaya kept quiet.
She's adventurous ' looking at her roles from LRL to RKB to MJHT ' all are different from each other and none are run of the mill ' and the last is as diametrically opposite her own character as it is possible to be.
Another quote from Sanaya ' 'I'm not even 1 per cent like Gunjan' ' so she seems to have deliberately chosen this role to challenge herself to the utmost. She's succeeded ' and how!!! From clothes, to voice, to body language ' if you met Sanaya on the road, and you didn't know she played Gunjan, anyone would be forgiven for not recognizing her, so much is the contrast between the two.
Except for her beauty ' that shines through regardless of the plain Jane looks she adopts on MJHT, but more than just beauty of features, it's her soul, her innocence and sweetness which is reflected in her eyes, which make her absolutely stunning, and which also make her the perfect choice to play Gunjan.
Maybe it was because her Hindi was poor at the start of the show that she was chosen to play Gunjan, who has very few dialogues. Maybe ' much more likely ' it was because she has this ability to emote with her eyes, so she doesn't really need any dialogues most times. I remember hours and hours spent in discussions about how Gunjan's eyes showed exactly what she felt, that and the wealth of emotion she gets into her voice. Never, ever have I heard tears in a voice as effective as when Gunjan puts them there. Her voice modulation in her emotional scenes is as close to perfection as it can get ' with her few words in that honey-sweet voice and the range of emotions in her eyes, she says it all, and in a way that reams of dialogues can never do. She's tailor made for television and films where her understated realistic acting is brought so beautifully to life on the screen, where the wealth of emotion in those eyes can be captured and shown in full blown beautiful detail.
Sanaya says she hates crying scenes ' all I can say is, then stop doing them so well, Sanaya - because when Gunjan cries, her quiet held back sobs, we cry with her. We feel her pain, her sorrow, her heartbreak, her grief, all the more because it is always restrained, held back, as though what Gunjan is allowing herself to show is but a fraction of what she actually feels. But by showing us just that fraction, she makes us FEEL all of it, in a way that hysterical loud sobs can never do. Gunjan's heartbreak on Valentine's Day 2010 didn't make me cry ' it left me, and most other SaJan fans, physically numb for two whole days ' such was the impact of her power-packed performance.
And when she smiles, when she teases ' I don't blame Samrat or Mohit for going gaga over her ' she drives us all crazy!
Really proud of being ur fan sanaya!!
u both r magical together
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