I had never considered a career in acting as I was expected to take over the family business of manufacturing audio tapes. So, after completing my BBA from The University of Texas in USA, I joined our family business. I soon realised that it wasn’t my cup of tea and tried my luck at investment banking but didn’t last there too long.

It was around this time that my sister Amisha was acting in films. Through her I was introduced to Bollywood. I’d often accompany her to the film sets and it wasn’t long before I was bitten by the acting bug. I took acting lessons at the Roshan Taneja School of Acting in Mumbai and joined Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt’s Vishesh Films in 2001 and got to assist director Vikram Bhatt. Within a year, Bhatt signed me for a three-film deal and this marked my initiation into acting.

My second film Murder (2004) was a significant turning point in my life. It did very well at the box office as opposed to Inteha (2003) my debut film that was a disaster. But personally, the film Banaras: A Mystic Love Story, which released in 2005 is the closest to my heart. Though it was not a commercial success, it had a huge influence on my personality. It jump-started my spiritual journey and put me in touch with my spiritual self.

Post these movies I experienced a lull in my acting career. Then television reality show Bigg Boss 5 came along and turned my life around. I made it to the finals and won a lot of hearts with this show. So much so that people voted me back four times. Bigg Boss gave my career a much-needed boost. It helped open doors and offers began to come in for films and television shows.

Right now I’m busy shooting for a reality show called Super Stud that’ll be aired soon and I’ll start working on three films as well. I want to strike a balance between films and television. I’m also setting up a production house that should get started by the end of this year.

(As told to Lubna Salim)