Weekend Exclusive | Gopi bahu & Jeannie aka Giaa Manek: Up, close and personal!

Giaa Manek a young and talented actress is making waves in the Indian television industry. Inspite of being a relatively new face her career graph is soaring. Before her foray into television she was offered a negligible role in the movie 'Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke', where she had an opportunity to work with renowned actors like Om Puri, Neena Gupta and Paresh Rawal. But the major breakthrough in her career came  when she bagged a role in the Star Plus’s daily soap ‘Saath Nibhana Saathiya’, where she played the lead role of ‘Gopi Bahu’ in the serial. In 2011 Giaa was voted the favourite ‘Behen’ (Sister) and also the favourite ‘Naya Sadasyaa’ (new entrant) by Star Parivaar Awards. She has also to her credit a few commercials, the most popular one being the Vatika Hair Oil advertisement. She has also participated in the reality dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’. Of late she is seen in the comedy fiction “Jeannie Aur Juju’ with co-star Ali Asgar which is presently being aired on SAB TV. Keen to enter the acting profession her persistent determination has helped her to be in the position she is today.

Adgully caught up with Giaa Manek during the launch of her new show, ‘Jeannie Aur Juju’ to know more about her life, career and her journey on the small screen.

When asked what made her choose this field, she said that she had always wanted to be an actor. She says, “Since the age of six I used to tell my parents that I wanted to be an actor but they never took me seriously. But my passion and my parent’s support has made me what I am today.” She admires actress Kareena Kapoor and one of her ambitions is to reprise the role of ‘Geet’ in Jab We Met.

Giaa has shed her image of  a quiet and docile ‘Bahu’ to become an all new , vivacious and charming  character , Jeannie.  When asked if Jhalak Dikhla Jaa helped her to break the ‘always nervous but ‘sushil bahu’ image, she said, “I cannot say that Jhalak helped me in breaking any image but  as a show it made me realize the fact that I can dance . It has also taught me many new international dance forms and helped in experimenting with different looks.”

She adds, “I would actually never want people to forget this image because I am known from that character and that role is/was loved by the entire nation.” When asked, if given a chance to be a Jeannie for one whole day what her priorities would be, she said, “I would want to remove all the negative people from the world.”
Giaa considers her experience working in Jeannie and Juju to be really amazing. She says, “It has helped me to present what Giaa is in her real life. I have always been like the character I play in Jeannie Aur Juju, full of excitement and energy. So I love the role that I am playing. Since this is based on the international format ‘I love my Jeannie’, the character of Jeannie has always fascinated me right from my childhood.”

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Giaa has convinced audiences with her passion and hard work and we at Adgully wish her all the best for the future. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]|