Sandhya Shetty is a woman of substance; you are active in sports, martial arts with your regular glamour profession. When the entire country fighting for women rights, child abuse, rapes, murders etc, how can a successful independent woman inspire female population to fight for their rights?

To be born as a woman for me symbolizes power. Our basic instinct to be strong physically and mentally is a great asset. Every woman has this potential & empowerment of woman is something that needs to be focused. One has to start believing in inner beauty, inner strength & that will automatically reflect the exterior. My passion for martial arts gives me immense strength & I can inspire woman to be strong, defend self at all times & believe that we as woman are very powerful. My talent as a TV presenter helps me convey how speech & language can help in communicating the minutest of things in a very powerful mode. Woman need to express; act upon & believe in self to standup & make all the difference to their existence.

Sandhya is a performer, what motivates you to excel in life?

My motivation is purely myself, Yes, I learn a lot from surrounding & people. But my passion to work & to excel in whatever I do is the strongest driving force. I love my work, I love every task that I do & I put in a lot of hard work because I believe that its a part of me that I am extending in my performance.

What is the strangest thing a role required you to do?

I did a Bengali film called "KAAL" which was based on Human Trafficking & the most challenging scene that I had to play was of getting aborted the very harsh inhumane way (in a village where there are no proper hospitals). I being single without the experience of motherhood, the whole thought of the agony that a woman goes through was beyond my imagination. I think at that point too I realized that woman are strong & adverse point of helplessness a woman gathers her strength to fight even stronger.

Besides acting, what other training have you had (voice, dance, stage combat, etc.)?

Miss India 2000 was from where I begin my journey of modeling & from there on I did theatre & also continued training myself in Bollywood dancing. As a fashion model I kept reinventing myself not only as a Ramp model, but doing innumerable print campaign & occasionally hosting shows too. I did loads of workshops to brush my skills. I excelled in the discipline of martial art form (karate)& today I am a black belt with a medal in the 34th National games held in Ranchi 2011.

If you could choose, what three actors would you really want to work with?

As a child I always was so much in awe with Mr. Amitabh Bacchan, his acting, his voice, the way he spoke Hindi & English with such great fluency. I think it's for any actors dream to share screen space with him. Amir Khan is purely sensibility personified, his style & method of acting is just there & he is so inspiring. Ranbir Kapoor absolute talent house & surely as an actor he is somebody who can inspire his co-actor to give their best. I would also mention Akshay Kumar purely because of our common interest of martial art & his fitness & his presentation onscreen is also something that one would wish to work with him too.

Have you ever gotten a chance to be on the other side of the table at an audition (watching, instead of auditioning)? What did you learn from that?

Learning is a process which happens at every stage. While I am performing, while I watch others performing, while I am sitting at a airport lounge, while I am sitting in a restaurant... it's just so unlimited.... mind has to be receptive & one can learn anywhere. When others audition & we watch, the 1st thought is of how & where one can work more on improving, one has to be humble towards any approach of a learning process. The best thought is I am the best, period then perform & surely do the best & let the others rest.

Your message to young women of India?

Women are born because they are the proof of the best creation that exists in this beautiful world. Feel proud being a woman, because it's the womb that even gives birth to the man. The immense strength of what is within us can only be explored by us. Educate yourself, get empowered, be self-sufficient, be strong to defend self in adverse situation & stand strong for another woman too. Woman power is what is within us, just believe & the world is ours.

Interviewed by Lakshmi R, Model: Sandhya Shetty, Photographer: Kaustub Kamble, Make Up: Ayesha Wadiwala, Hair: Reeta Shukla

Sandhya Shetty is a woman of substance; you are active in sports, martial arts with your regular glamour profession. When the entire country fighting for women rights, child abuse, rapes, murders etc, how can a successful independent woman inspire female population to fight for their rights?

To be born as a woman for me symbolizes power. Our basic instinct to be strong physically and mentally is a great asset. Every woman has this potential & empowerment of woman is something that needs to be focused. One has to start believing in inner beauty, inner strength & that will automatically reflect the exterior. My passion for martial arts gives me immense strength & I can inspire woman to be strong, defend self at all times & believe that we as woman are very powerful. My talent as a TV presenter helps me convey how speech & language can help in communicating the minutest of things in a very powerful mode. Woman need to express; act upon & believe in self to standup & make all the difference to their existence.

Sandhya is a performer, what motivates you to excel in life?

My motivation is purely myself, Yes, I learn a lot from surrounding & people. But my passion to work & to excel in whatever I do is the strongest driving force. I love my work, I love every task that I do & I put in a lot of hard work because I believe that its a part of me that I am extending in my performance.

What is the strangest thing a role required you to do?

I did a Bengali film called "KAAL" which was based on Human Trafficking & the most challenging scene that I had to play was of getting aborted the very harsh inhumane way (in a village where there are no proper hospitals). I being single without the experience of motherhood, the whole thought of the agony that a woman goes through was beyond my imagination. I think at that point too I realized that woman are strong & adverse point of helplessness a woman gathers her strength to fight even stronger.

Besides acting, what other training have you had (voice, dance, stage combat, etc.)?

Miss India 2000 was from where I begin my journey of modeling & from there on I did theatre & also continued training myself in Bollywood dancing. As a fashion model I kept reinventing myself not only as a Ramp model, but doing innumerable print campaign & occasionally hosting shows too. I did loads of workshops to brush my skills. I excelled in the discipline of martial art form (karate)& today I am a black belt with a medal in the 34th National games held in Ranchi 2011.

If you could choose, what three actors would you really want to work with?

As a child I always was so much in awe with Mr. Amitabh Bacchan, his acting, his voice, the way he spoke Hindi & English with such great fluency. I think it's for any actors dream to share screen space with him. Amir Khan is purely sensibility personified, his style & method of acting is just there & he is so inspiring. Ranbir Kapoor absolute talent house & surely as an actor he is somebody who can inspire his co-actor to give their best. I would also mention Akshay Kumar purely because of our common interest of martial art & his fitness & his presentation onscreen is also something that one would wish to work with him too.

Have you ever gotten a chance to be on the other side of the table at an audition (watching, instead of auditioning)? What did you learn from that?

Learning is a process which happens at every stage. While I am performing, while I watch others performing, while I am sitting at a airport lounge, while I am sitting in a restaurant... it's just so unlimited.... mind has to be receptive & one can learn anywhere. When others audition & we watch, the 1st thought is of how & where one can work more on improving, one has to be humble towards any approach of a learning process. The best thought is I am the best, period then perform & surely do the best & let the others rest.

Your message to young women of India?

Women are born because they are the proof of the best creation that exists in this beautiful world. Feel proud being a woman, because it's the womb that even gives birth to the man. The immense strength of what is within us can only be explored by us. Educate yourself, get empowered, be self-sufficient, be strong to defend self in adverse situation & stand strong for another woman too. Woman power is what is within us, just believe & the world is ours.

Interviewed by Lakshmi R, Model: Sandhya Shetty, Photographer: Kaustub Kamble, Make Up: Ayesha Wadiwala, Hair: Reeta Shukla