Singer-actor Monica Dogra is making waves with her song Naraye Mastana, which was originally sung by legendary Sufi singer Abida Parveen. Monica, who has also acted in films such as Rock On!! (2008) and Dhobi Ghaat (2011), reveals that while most women have to prove that they are more than a pretty face, her struggle was entirely different. “I have been very lucky. The graph of my career has always been loaded with doing stuff which no one had done before. But I never felt the pressure to prove that I am something much more than a pretty face, because I had to instead prove to people that I am pretty in the first place!”

The 34-year old goes on to add, “When I first started acting, I was only offered nerdy roles —lawyers or someone intellectual. It’s only happened recently that I am feeling that I can be intellectual and at the same time make a name for myself in the fashion arena too.”

Famous in the indie-music scene, she confesses that the pressure to recreate a legend’s song was always there, considering people will always compare her version with the original. “I have enormous respect for Abida Parveen. My approach was to make the song completely my own. This was a tough task, but I have in no way tried to touch her legacy,” says Monica, who also participated in the task-based reality show Khatron ke khiladi.

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