Says Priyanka Chopra’s cousin, Manaara, earlier called Barbie, who has gone nude for her Hindi debut
Priyanka Chopra’s first cousin, Barbie Handa, has now been been rechris tened Manaara to make her name more `marketable’. It was the producer of her debut Hindi film, Zid, Anubhav Sinha, who insisted on a new name beginning with the letter M as he is a huge Madhuri Dixit fan. “Barbie was too childish a name for a grown-up girl, actually it was her nickname,“ says Sinha.Manaara admits she’d been planning the change for a while now, urged on by her family. “I liked Manaara, a Greek word meaning ‘something that shines’, and everyone approved,“ she beams.She has done a course in fashion designing and has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration before relocating to Mumbai. She admits being Priyanka Chopra cousin helps in Bollywood. “You get invited to industry events and meet the right people,“ she points out, quickly adding that she had to go through five rounds of auditions before she was selected for Zid. Manaara features completely nude in the movie’s poster and is blasé about it. “We are in 2014 and I can’t be in a ghoonghat. If I wanted to be all covered, I’d do a saas-bahu serial. I have a hot body and I don’t mind showing it,“ she says proudly.And what was Priyanka’s reaction? “Before the poster was shot, I called up Priyanka who was in Barcelona for a film. She told me to go for it, but ensure that it’s done aesthetically and didn’t look sleazy. I took her advice and am getting lots of compliments,“ she smiles.
