Ananya Bera of Lake Town and Sunanda Hiroo of Park Street aren’t the only feminine Calcutta connections with Kolkata Knight Riders this year. Joining the list is model-turned-actress Shreya Pande.

Though Shreya won’t be cheering the men in black-and-gold like Ananya and Sunanda, the Kankurgachhi girl will be seen in a Nokia ad doing a Korbo lorbo jeetbo re for “all the king’s men”. Farah Khan has donned the director’s hat for this Red Chillies Entertainment production.

But how did Shreya land the plum role? “I got a call from Red Chillies to audition for the role. When I went in for the audition, I found Anushka Sharma (of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi fame) waiting for the audition too. So, I was sulking, thinking I would definitely lose the role to her. They called me to say I was selected when I was boarding a flight back home last Tuesday! I went back the next day for the shoot,” she says.

The ad shows Shreya “doing a lot of things, including juggling a ball atop a bike” on the Versova beach and Lokhandwala bridge. Working with Farah had turned her into “an Eveready battery”. “My call time was at 1.30 in the morning. We would shoot on the beach till 5am. I would return to my Mumbai pad for an hour’s rest and leave for the Lokhandwala bridge shoot,” she recounts.

“Farah is hyper and strict. She doesn’t allow people to put on make-up or do their hair once the lights are ready. People on her sets are running all the time,” she laughs. The ad goes on air from April 15.

The Nokia ad apart, Shreya has also shot commercials for Amul, Nescafe, Kurkure and McDowell’s, the last two being directed by Pradip Parineeta Sarkar. Shreya is shown as a “witty South Indian girl” in the ad for the snack brand, while the Amul ad has her doing a gender bender. “This ad is going to shake up the nation! I am doing all the things a boy does,” she laughs.