Meet the new Kapoor girl!

Amidst all the buildup about Ambika Hinduja production, and Amitabh Bachchan starrer Teen Patti, directed by Leena Yadaav, there’s one more face that’s catching everyone’s fancy these days, albeit the secrecy woven around her. The buzz is, debutante Shraddha Kapoor, is too stunning to be kept under wraps for too long.

This new Kapoor beauty enters Bollywood close on the heels of Ranbir and Sonam Kapoor. Whether Teen Patti, where she plays a rockstar in a rock band, will decide her fate in Bollywood is yet to be seen, the truth is, Bollywood has already laid the red carpet for Shakti Kapoor and Shivangi Kapoor’s nineteen year old daughter.

Naturally, expectations are high, considering her lineages are not less than any other star kid. With aunt Padmini Kolhapure, grand father Pt. Pandharinath Kolhapure and Lata Mangeshkar (her mother Shivangi is Lataji’s niece) the debutant is all set to strike.

Shraddha’s freshness has already bagged her plum roles in Sanjay Leela Bhansali production opposite Prateik Babbar and Nagarjuna’s son Nag Chaitanya even before her debut film is released.

This Boston educated couldn’t resist the calling of Bollywood for too long even though she wanted to pursue higher studies. “I have always been flooded with offers,” says Shraddha with an air of confidence, and self assurance. But Bollywood’s predominantly male dominated subjects didn’t excite her enough to jump into the bandwagon. “Bollywood hardly makes female centric films. I am lucky to have found a script in Teen Patti, which suited my sensibility and my taste,” she analyses like a veteran. Is Bollywood listening?

Trained in Odyssey and Kathak dance forms, Shraddha is also a good singer and has tested her vocal chords in Teen Patti. “Singing and acting is in my genes. I am a trained singer in Western and Indian classical music and since childhood I have been inspired by my grand father and Lataji,” she explains.

Excitedly, she reveals few more secrets related to her new journey, “I’d lead a group called Jhankar consisting of trained dancers in Boston University which would perform to Bollywood numbers across United States. Secondly, I learnt how to slush cards for this film and thirdly, being from a Punjabi family, papa’s relatives pressured him to get me married. It could have been the end of my dream. They were shocked that Papa was encouraging me to fulfill my dreams,” she says with gratitude.

And the last words are reserved for her ‘dashing’ co-star Amitabh Bachchan who she thinks is the God of acting. “No one can better him as an actor. He is the best. I feel like taking a bow when I see him,” she gushes.

But her inspiration is the one and only “My daddy - next favorite after Amitabh uncle. I think he is a very versatile actor. I am a fan of his comedies and I take cues from him,” she admits.

With beauty and brain that would turn heads, Shraddha, however has her head firmly on her shoulder. She just smiles mischievously, “Looks like it will be fun here.”