"I wanted to shoot my second film with SRK and KJo" – Sana Saeed

You’ve sacrificed your studies for SOTY. That’s a big move. When I was eight years old, I didn’t know how big Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was. But now when I sit back and look at the film I am like – ‘Oh my God, Read More">I am on SRK’s back’. But it didn’t hit me then.Read More

You've sacrificed your studies for SOTY. That's a big move.
When I was eight years old, I didn't know how big Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was. But now when I sit back and look at the film I am like - 'Oh my God, I am on SRK's back'. But it didn't hit me then. It was a huge opportunity and it was a debut film of KJo too. He has directed five films and I am a part of two. I haven't been in touch with KJo in the past fourteen years and Student Of The Year got us connected again. I sacrificed my New York Film Academy course to pick SOTY. It was a brave move at my age I think.

Everyone judges you as the girl from KKHH. Is it time to leave that image behind?
People always try and compare you with your previous performance. Then you don't know how well you are going to be accepted too. They want to see you do something different. But I don't care. It is a deja-vu moment for me. I've sat with KJo every day during KKHH and now when I sat with him, somehow it is so easy to get what he is trying to say. I was scared of Karan during KKHH and I was under pressure this time too (laughs). I knew I had to only learn my lines and go. He knows exactly what he wants from his actors. I could not have messed this up and I gave more than hundred percent in SOTY.

Did you audition for your role in SOTY?
I auditioned for SOTY and got the film. But before that I got all the things done by the old school method in B-town. I made my portfolio. I asked a few people who I should mail my pictures till I emailed Nandini who was casting for SOTY. I got a call from Dharma Productions office saying that they've already cast the leads but they were looking for important character actor roles. I wanted to try and the chances of meeting KJo looked promising. I was called for a boisterous character in the movie. I had to go with this high pony tail, t-shirt, jeans. I was more cheeky that that. I didn't want to meet Karan in my tom-boy look. Then I got a call saying that I was shortlisted but they said I was too feminine looking for that character. My audition went to KJo but it was him who suggested Nandini to try me out for a character called Tanya. So now I had to wear a short dress and look glamorous. I was too confused. I got shortlisted again. Then I was called in for the third time. I somewhere knew that I had bagged the role, but which one was the question (laughs). All this and I play a high school hottie in SOTY.

Ok, first things first! Sana Saeed parties a lot. Let me put it this way – it was another year of collecting memories. I mean, Read More">it was her birthday last Saturday. She turned a year older. Add to that her pre-release celebrations of her second film Student Of The Year a.k.a her second film underRead More

Ok, first things first! Sana Saeed parties a lot. Let me put it this way - it was another year of collecting memories. I mean, it was her birthday last Saturday. She turned a year older. Add to that her pre-release celebrations of her second film Student Of The Year a.k.a her second film under Karan Johar's direction. Now who wouldn't like to party? I would! But that later. I find out that we have a common friend. So Twitter came handy. We exchanged inbox messages. I call her and we decide to meet at Costa. In the world of Blackberry Messenger, I do not hesitate to play a game with her - 'whoever reaches Costa last owes the other a coffee' is what I ping her. I get off my ride and start to walk but my sixth sense tells me to look behind. Voila! It was Sana! I try to run but then decide not to and like a true gentleman ask the lady to step up and enter the cafe. Sana won. I order her favorite caramel latte and treat myself to the cinnamon hot chocolate. Since her debut appearance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as SRK's daughter, we've been hopelessly addicted to Ms Saeed, and today I remain enamoured as Sana gets better, and more beautiful, with age. As an eight year old, she had projected an uncommon potent power on screen. It's a sweltering late-monsoon afternoon, and Sana is dressed in tight blue denims with a sleeveless beige vest. Her hair brown and loose, her nails shiny and long - the usual teenage suit of armour. As she talks, her words tumble out in knots; she edits herself, starts over, and reiterates her humorous point, so that many times, it's made through the accumulation of half-uttered phrases. Throughout our chat she keeps uttering three words - KJo, Caramel and Chocolate. While the young female fan base may be pining for Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra, Sana is somewhere the collective desire for most men who found her cute then and sexy now. I am one of them! In the hour and a half we spent drinking coffee I understood that when it comes to aspects of Sana's life, she is an open book, but when it comes to movies, part of her remains an enigma. Currently, the only thing on Sana's mind is to smash through her aura of perfection she carried in KKHH and double it up in SOTY. Listen in as she opens up and lets me into her world of movies. Presenting you the cutie-pie who went on to become a hottie - Sana Saeed.

Your second film with SRK and KJO. Wow! A rare happening in Bollywood this is and a dream come true for any actor.
I so wanted to shoot my second film with Shah Rukh Khan. But you are right. It was nostalgia. Somewhere I felt connected to SRK and was glad that I was working this time with him in Student Of The Year with him wearing the hat of a producer. The first thought that came to my mind was - It's a Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan film and I don't care what my role is, I just want to do the film (laughs).

Now that Alia has got her Vogue, you playing a high school hottie will definitely get you your Maxim. (Laughs) You got to be serious. If Alia has got her Vogue, Read More">I really don’t know if at this age and with two films old I will get a Maxim (laughs). I need to be seenRead More

Now that Alia has got her Vogue, you playing a high school hottie will definitely get you your Maxim.
(Laughs) You got to be serious. If Alia has got her Vogue, I really don't know if at this age and with two films old I will get a Maxim (laughs). I need to be seen more. I have to really get hotter than just being a hottie in SOTY (laughs). I feel that Alia is blessed in a way. She has lost seventeen kilos over three to four months to get into her character for SOTY. I too lost ten kilos but not for the role. I did it because I was planning to enter movies soon. Alia deserves it because she has worked hard for it. I too want to see myself someday, all glossed up (laughs).

You are the only experienced member of the cast when it comes to acting. You're one film old.
It's bizarre but this is the first time that Karan Johar is working with all debutants, including the three main leads and the four supporting characters. But I was a bit at ease because I was the only one who had some experience on set. I knew the chances of me messing things up were less. But he knew he had a new cast and nobody was really having an edge over the other. He gave the same treatment to all. So if you had your scene done in five takes and the other did it in fifteen takes, it really didn't matter because the vibe with KJo is always positive. But the small things I would get it quick - like the lighting, the camera, my profiling, etc.

At your age, you must be watching a lot of television shows to brush up your skills as an actor.
Even though I have done a bit of television, I hate watching the T.V. I am very bad at News (laughs) and I can't stand my mother watching the typical serials. The only thing I do is watch the American shows like Gossip Girls, Vampire Diaries, etc. I have become a movie buff too. I loved the recent Barfi. I am deeply in love with Barfi (laughs). I liked The Dirty Picture too. I love The Twilight Series. I was watching this show called Revenge. It's very off beat. I enjoy a lot of T.V shows. I love Entourage too. But I have to confess that I recently saw The Godfather, The Fast and Furious, etc. I didn't get a chance to see those movies earlier because I wasn't the appropriate age (laughs).

It must've been quite a struggle to concentrate because you were surrounded by two hot men. And what about the cat fight with Alia?
(Laughs) I didn't have any cat fights with Alia. I love men who are muscular rather than slim and fair. The boys in SOTY are too muscular. They are hot. I didn't have a lot of scenes with Siddharth Malhotra. I have two to three interactions with him. But I share good screen-space with Varun Dhawan. We go back to our HR college days. We've known each other before we started movies. He reminds me a bit of Salman Khan. He is a fun and a crazy person. I am very hyper active and bubbly in real life too. So we had fun shooting together.

He is a fabulous dancer too. As for my scenes with Alia, I do have a few scenes with her but like I said, with Sid and Alia, I worked around both of them. I share my space a lot with Kayo (Boman Irani's son) too.

You need to tell me how mad and crazy is Kayo, Read More">Boman’s son? Kayo is like his father Boman Irani. He is too funny. I remember Boman uncle was with us in Bangkok. It’s nostalgic because my second portfolio was shot by Boman Irani when I was eight years old. He remembered I came withRead More

You need to tell me how mad and crazy is Kayo, Boman's son?
Kayo is like his father Boman Irani. He is too funny. I remember Boman uncle was with us in Bangkok. It's nostalgic because my second portfolio was shot by Boman Irani when I was eight years old. He remembered I came with my mother to shoot the pictures. Kayo is crazy like his father. He is too humorous his age. Like father, like son. Ditto!

I saw your first glimpse in 'Disco Deewane' song...
Shooting for 'Disco Deewane' was a lot of fun. Remo has choreographed a beautiful dance number here. I've done 'Vele' too but little bit. We did a different take in dance thanks to Bosco-Caesar. But 'Disco Deewane' was a lot of fun because it was a song where everybody was there. Even in the rehearsals everyone went mad. It was the last song of the last schedule and you wanted to put everything into it that you got left. We all did just that! Karan's mood was apt. Working on 'Disco Deewane' was the best experience of my life.

What are you looking forward to now? Passing with distinction from SOTY?
I don't know what to look forward to. All I know is that the youth will be looking forward to Student Of The Year. I have a long way to go after SOTY and the good thing that'll happen after SOTY is that audience will remember me not as an eight year old actor of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai but the actor from Student Of The Year. I hope!