Exclusive! Saloni Khanna: Entering the showbiz definitely was not a cakewalk

Had life not blossomed on the silver screen she would have perhaps been busy with engineering and machines at a swanky corporate office But destiny had something else in store for actress Saloni Khanna She has worked in shows such as The Raikar Case and Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala However her recent work in Broken But Beautiful 3 and Sunflower have garnered her more fan following than everWe caught up with the actress who got candid like never before From her Delhi days to how she began her acting career in Mumbai and her struggling days her love story with actor Viraff Patel Saloni tells it all in this candid interview Excerpts belowA pakka Delhiwali at heartI am a true Delhi girl in every sense of the word I speak like one I look like one I talk like one at least thats what people tell me In fact when I moved to Mumbai is when the distinction of the fact that I am a Delhi girl became very clear to me So when I would speak in Hindi and used terms like Ye de diyo Ye kar liyo people in Mumbai used to give me those stares and give me that strange look wondering why am I being rude and disrespectful Delhi has its own charm the food there the friend circle that I have there I have done my schooling in Delhi I was graduated from Delhi I have done my engineering in Delhi So Delhi is such an important part of my childhood and my life I think the 20 years of my life was spent in Delhi Its a city where my family is there and honestly my heart is there and will always beWorked in the airline sector NeverView this post on InstagramA post shared by Saloni Khanna Patel salk04It is strange and I get to hear this a lot But I have never worked in the airline sector I was an engineer and I was working in a corporate sector in TCS and thats about it Ive never worked in the airline sector In fact I did not even apply for an airline job So I dont know how that information is still available on the internet I am an engineer and I did engineering from Delhi I applied for a job in the corporate sector developing software and I used to sit in front of the computer for a 9 to 5 job Honestly that was not where my heart was I was somebody who used to always perform on stage and always dancing and singing which was a very integral part of my life I didnt know what to do next I had no idea of the industry and where I come from acting singing modelling dancing are considered hobbies And thats really sad I think it is also because as outsiders you are a little apprehensive of things you really dont know about And nobody including my parents knew anything about the acting industry So it was considered to be a hobby And taking up acting as a profession was never in thought in my head I always wanted to become an MBA because I was getting very bored of doing what I was doing However life had other plans If you allow life to flow and you flow with it you will always go where you are meant to be And that exactly what happened I got a modelling offer sitting in my office one day on Facebook from an agency in Delhi and on a whim I decided to check it out Then there was no looking back I started modelling I went to Bombay I got introduced to theatre that introduced me to acting which took me behind the camera and then later in front of the cameraAlso Read Three things that COVID19 pandemic gave me TV actor Viraf PatellTrain yourself to become an actorView this post on InstagramA post shared by Saloni Khanna Patel salk04Entering the showbiz was definitely not a cakewalk Though things happen on their own in the beginning like I got an opportunity to come to Bombay because of the modelling assignment and I started doing theatre But I realise later that you know when I was doing modelling in Delhi a lot of people used to say Hey you are such a goodlooking girl you can dance sing you are tall why dont you become an actor and I wasnt sure if I could be an actor So I decided to come to Bombay and I realised that the main thing that is required for me to become an actor is that I dont have proper training I never trained as an actor And I realise how important training is when I was doing theatre I gave a couple of auditions without training and when I gave auditions with training there was a huge amount of difference in my performance Thats when I realised how important is to train yourself to become an actor My advice to every newbie out there please do get trained in whatever field you want to make a good career If you want to be a singer train yourself in singing if you want to be a painter train your art I dont think so there is any sort of shortcut out there Sometimes you might get clicked without training but to sustain you definitely need to get trained in your jobI dealt with a lot of rejectionsWhen you come to Bombay with your dreams sometimes you come with the timeline like you have two or three years to achieve a certain goal And if it doesnt happen within the timeline you are left with no option but to go back because it is not easy to survive here There is no stability So when I came here it was difficult there was a lot of rejection there were a lot of ups and downs I dealt with constant instability and I didnt know what was going to happen next But I sustained in Bombay Even though I was not a paid actor I was modelling and thats what helped me pay my bills So I have immense respect for the field because whatever I could do today whatever I am today is because I was modelling to survive in the city of dreamsAlso Read Viraf Patell shares wedding pictures talks about getting married amid pandemicJab we metView this post on InstagramA post shared by Saloni Khanna Patel salk04As cliche as it sounds I met Viraff on the sets of a show that we were doing for SonyLIV We were cast opposite each other and I still remember the first time impression of Viraff Patel was not very nice because he was an hour late to the reading I am a stickler for time so I was very upset but I didnt say anything because I didnt know him Also he was an established actor and I was absolutely new and I didnt know if I can say anything But later when I got to know him he was a gem of a person I later also got to know that he had a genuine reason to get late so it was easy to forgive him Instantly after that we clicked we developed a friendship I remember a week after the shoot got over he told me he really likes me and wants to marry me And I got the shock of my life because I didnt know him much so I told him Listen buddy I will need time to know you and he was like Take your time He was very clear about his thoughts and I took about two years to figure it out And after a point we both wanted to get marriedLockdown weddingView this post on InstagramA post shared by Saloni Khanna Patel salk04So we met each other parents And just when we decide to get married the pandemic hit the world bringing everything to a standstill So we decided to postpone the wedding to next year thinking that everything will settle by then But this year we got hit harder and we didnt know what to do Then we both decided to keep it very simple It was not safe for anybody to travel and celebrate our wedding Our parents were in Delhi and Pune and we did not want to take the risk So we asked everybody to stay wherever they were and we organised a zoom call for everyone so they could see the wedding in the court We had three witnesses who were vaccinated by then We decided to go ahead with the wedding because we had decided to start our lives together