Mannara: The latest Chopra sister to enter B'wood

After Parineeti Chopra, yet another cousin of Priyanka Chopra is set to make her debut in Bollywood. Mannara, who was earlier known as Barbie Handa, claims that being a 'star’s relative' didn’t make the process of bagging her first film any easier.

After Parineeti Chopra, yet another cousin of Priyanka Chopra is set to make her debut in Bollywood. But Mannara, who was earlier known as Barbie Handa, claims that being a 'star’s relative' didn’t make the process of bagging her first film in the Hindi film industry any easier. She reveals that she had to audition five times, and give look and screen tests before director Anubhav Sinha signed her on for his upcoming project.

Chopra-sisters

“If people are investing money in a film and staking their reputations as well, they won’t sign you just because you are related to established stars. If a producer meets you with a hunch that you’d fit the character conceived, he scans you thoroughly before signing you. Priyanka did guide me on how to go about it though. I asked her if I was meeting the right people when I decided to join the industry,” says Mannara, who made her acting debut with the Telugu film Prema Geema Jantha Nai.

Her upcoming film is touted to be an exotic thriller, but she says otherwise. “It has good music, so you can say it is a musical thriller. Calling it exotic would be incorrect. There are some scenes that are intense, but the film isn’t only about that,” says Mannara.