Aryan Vaid with sisters Meena (left) and Poonam

Aryan Vaid shot to fame via the male version of a beauty contest. In 2002, he muscled his way ahead of all the other hunks to win the Grasim Mr India International title. Ever since that he’s been one of the male stars of the modelling and glamour circuit.

Before becoming a supermodel, Aryan graduated from Mithibai college in Mumbai and then did a three-year catering course at Mumbai’s Pusa Institute of Hotel Management. He has, in various incarnations, been a chef at the Leela Kempinski hotel, a flight attendant with Sahara Airlines and also ran a catering business, which is now managed by his mother.

While in college he was part of a theatre group and also acted in a TV serial on Zee. “I was always interested in acting and modelling but wasn’t very sure of it as a career till I won the Mr India contest,” he says.

Aryan is still waiting for the big box-office hit that will propel him to the top of the movie world. He made his big screen debut with the Jaiprakash-directed film, Market, opposite Manisha Koirala. Films like Chahat ? Ek Nasha, Sauda, Aisa Kyon Hota Hai and White Noise followed. Currently there are more screen roles in the pipeline and this year, the actor will be seen in films like Manoranjan, Take Two and Apne.

The young model-actor has three sisters Meena, Sheetal and Poonam. Sheetal lives in the US, but both Meena and Poonam are married and settled in Mumbai. So whenever Aryan is not travelling or shooting he makes sure to catch up with the two of them. Meena, the eldest, is married to music composer Lalit Pandit (of the Jatin-Lalit duo) and she has always been one of Aryan’s confidantes.

Poonam is the youngest in the family. Mother of a four-year-old son, Poonam is a jewellery designer and has launched her label called Jewels. She has always looked up to her brother for advice, whether on the personal or professional front. The three of them make it a point to make time for each other whenever possible and specially on occasions like Raksha Bandhan and Diwali.

Aryan:

I grew up with three sisters and as kids, we made a great gang. I remember we had a parallel telephone line in our parents’ room, so in order to prevent them from catching me chat with my girlfriend or my sisters chat with their boyfriends, we snipped the telephone line in their room. Our parents never guessed that we were the culprits.

Though Meena was three years older than I was, I used to usually hang around with her group, which also included her then boyfriend and now husband, Lalit. In fact, I was dating a girl two years older than me who was in Meena’s group. I used to discuss her with Meena and this also brought us close, like friends.

But since Meena was older, it was difficult for me to take decisions for her. She got married when she was only 18, but that hasn’t affected our relationship. Even Lalit is a good friend and we have fun times together.

Meena has always been there for me whenever I’ve needed her the most. When I was participating in the Grasim Mr India contest, I needed money but didn’t want to ask my parents. At this point, she offered me Rs 25,000, which meant a lot to me then. She is a good person, but at times can be very pushy if she wants to, while Poonam is very relaxed and composed. She is a bit reserved and lot more focused than any of us.

Since Poonam is younger than me, I’ve never really been that dependent on her. When she started seeing Sanjay, her husband now, I wasn’t very happy about it. But I’m glad she didn’t pay attention to my advice, and went ahead with the relationship. Today I’m so happy for them. She is extremely talented and after working as a jewellery designer for five years, has started her own jewellery business. I’m sure she is going to do a great job.

Meena:

I’ve been married for 14 years and although Aryan and I haven’t stayed together for as many years now, we are still as close as we used to be earlier. Aryan is travelling most of the time, but whenever he is in town we go out together. Our group comprises my husband and myself, Aryan, and my sister Poonam with her husband.

During my teenage years whenever I would go out with friends, Aryan used to always keep a check on me and monitor all the boys I used to talk to. And when we returned home, he’d go and tell mom about all the guys I had chatted with and even what I had chatted about.

He was such a blackmailer ? I remember when I was in class seven, I flunked in my Marathi exam and Aryan found out about it. So after school when I reached home and mom asked me about the paper, I coolly told her that I hadn’t received it. She believed me.

Aryan quietly came up to me and threatened to tell mom the truth. His condition for keeping quiet: I had to eat some chilli powder. Of course, I had no choice and had to go through with it.

There were several other occasions when he made me eat chilli powder. But that’s all in the past now. What I like about him is that he is a very disciplined person and has worked very hard in life. He always gets up early in the morning and never misses his work-outs come what may. And I must say he has done very well for himself without any godfather in the industry.

Poonam:

Aryan is four years older than I am and I look to him for advice most of the time. He has always been there to support and encourage me. When I wanted to set up my own jewellery business, he came forward and helped me to chalk out the business plan and even offered me his house to work from.

He calculated and made me save the extra amount of money I would have foolishly squandered on the venture. The best part about him is that he is a good listener. I admire him for the way he manages his career and also helps mom in the catering business.

Aryan has been a responsible brother and when he learnt that I was seeing Sanjay, he was a bit alarmed and not very happy about it. Actually, he was just playing the the concerned brother and when he got to know Sanjay better, he accepted him with open arms. Aryan is also an extremely loving uncle. He is very fond of my son, Armaan. Now I’m longing to see him get happily married to a girl of his choice.

Photograph by Gajanan Dudhalkar