'Mirzya' actress Saiyami Kher: I am back to where I belong

Saiyami KherSaiyami Kher steps into Bollywood with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehrarsquos Mirzya opposite Anil Kapoorrsquos son Harshvardhan Her costar is a star kid and the love saga is being touted as his launchpadHazeleyed Saiyami remains unfazed by the attention Harshvardhan is getting ldquoWhat matters to me is that I am realising my dream I could not have asked for a better debut The last two years have been magical for merdquo she saysFrom left Harshvardhan Kapoor director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Saiyami Kher who plays Sahiban in the filmSaiyami too has acting lineage She is the granddaughter of late yesteryear actress Usha Kiran who acted in Hindi and Marathi films Her grandmom is best remembered for films like Daag 1952 with Dilip Kumar and Patita 1953 which starred Dev Anand Usha Kiran was also the Sheriff of Mumbai in the late 1990s Saiyamirsquos parents Adwait Kher and Uttara Mhatre a beauty pageant winner were wellknown models in the eighties Her aunt is actress Tanvi Azmi sisterinlaw to Shabana AzmiSo there is the KherAzmi connect and she has grown up listening to a lot of industry talk ldquoI have heard so many stories about the bungalow where my grandparents dad and aunt lived at Pali Hill Bandra Today there is a highrise there but the memories lingerrdquoHer grandfather Dr Manohar Kher was a well known crossword aficionado He was known to crack the toughest crossword in minutes Her aunt Tanvi in her younger days too would give solving crosswords a shot ldquoI have heard stories about their crossword solving abilitiesrdquoWith acting in her genes was it given that Saiyami would be an actressldquoNot exactlyrdquo says the newbie ldquoMy father decided to relocate to Nashik to begin life anew mdash away from tinseltown He thought that was best for us He wanted to cut himself away from the starry trappings But years down the line I am back in Mumbai and part of the industry My father walked away from the industry and now I am bringing it back to him I am back to where I belongrdquoSaiyami was a calender girl and did a bit of modelling before the acting bug struck She has done a South film There is also a Mani Ratnam movie in her kitty alreadyMehra found his Sahiban in Saiyami after an intensive search ldquoI was not chosen for my lineage I had to go through several audition rounds It was tough and rigorous I had to undergo workshops for months and learn horseriding I had to prove that I could be Sahiban until the last round I had no clue whether I would fit the bill I gave it my best shot The day I was told I had been selected it was magical Getting something you always wanted it is difficult to describe the feelingrdquoMehra had harboured the desire to recount the love saga of Mirza and Sahiban for decades Though he would keep taking on other projects the love story stayed with him He kept coming back to it till he got down to making it with new facesAbout working with Juhu star kid Harshvardhan she says ldquoHe is a cool guy and since both of us were starting off together there was lots in commonrdquoThe budding actress has played cricket in school and worships Sachin Tendulkar It has been a long wait for her to see Mirzya finally hit the marque next month ldquoWhatever happens happens for the bestrdquo she saysWatch the teaser trailer of Mirzya here