Nikesha Patel is dressed in a bright saree, she’s chewing gum and her assistant is giving her some final touches at a set in Annapurna Studios. This is not the first time she’s facing the camera. At 20, she has bagged many modeling assignments, participated in the Ms Wales and Ms World competition and now she is turning up the heat in her first film Puli with Pavan Kalyan.
At first glance, Nikesha is a subtle beauty, elegant in her looks and extremely stylish when she walks. In an exclusive chat, the NRI actress reveals that she’s loving south Indian films and has resolved to learn telugu soon.
So how did she bag this role? Nikesha met director SJ Surya through a friend in Mumbai and he’d been impressed with her portfolios and acting skills. She’s more than happy with the entire set up, the strong story, the cast and crew.
She quips, “I’m lucky to be working with the best cinematographer Binodh Pradhan and yes, a great super star Pavan Kalyan. Though I haven’t heard of him I ‘ve done a lot of research lately and found him to be very popular in the UK.
Nikesha loves just about everything to do with movies, the clothes, jewellery and she adds, “the dancing, the hair blowing,”. Her parents were very supportive when she decided to work in Puli but Nikesha says she gets tired easily doing nothing on the sets waiting for the next shot. About the film she adds that she plays a police officer who later on becomes a housewife.
I do a lot of comedy too. The hero is a shy character and it’s my job to open him up. She says, “In real life too I’ve found the hero to be really reserved, he keeps to himself most of the time, reading a book when he finds time. I haven’t seen much of his work yet and I’m waiting to see him act.
When she’s not shooting, Nikesha loves to go back home in London or catch up with her sleep in her hotel room. She’s not a party person and mostly keeps to herself watching a lot of reality shows on the small tube. In Hyderabad she hasn’t done much sight seeing but admits shopping for a lot of pearls. “But I didn’t miss tasting the hyderabadi biryani. The first thing I did after coming here was to get a taste of it and being an absolute foodie I loved it. I eat and I work out doubly hard.

Filmography:

Director: Raja Bundela
Producer: SMC Media and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Cast: Raj Babbar, Nikesha Patel, Zeenat Aman, Satish Koushik, Sharath Saxena
Language: Hindi
Release Date: 2007

Director: S J Suriyah
Producer: Singamala Ramesh
Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Nikesha Patel, Manoj Bajpayee, Charan Raj, Nasser
Music Director: A R Rejman
Language: Telugu
Release Date: 2010, February