Ihana Dhillon bats for helmet for girls in Chandigarh

The actress who was in Chandigarh recently, strongly advocated helmets for girls driving two-wheelersAt a time when there is a lot of clamour over Chandigarh administration's order to make compulsory helmets for girls driving two-wheelers, actor Ihana Dhillon has come out in strong support of this order. "Wearing helmets for anyone riding a two-wheeler was always a rule. But girls were not following it and were somehow exempted. Now that the Chandigarh administration has passed this order, it will become binding on all girls to comply with the order," said Ihana who made her Bollywood debut with Hate Story IV earlier this year. She went on to add, "Whether it's a man or a woman, accidents do not discriminate against gender, then why shouldn't girls follow this order?"
Speaking about her professional choices, Ihana said she prefers being called by her character's name on the sets, to ensure getting into its skin. "For me, more than the film, characters play a huge role. Even on the sets, I ask everyone not to call me Ihana madam, but call me by the character's name. And that really helps me, as 24X7 people are calling me by my character's name. So, I know I'm not Ihana at that time."
Talking about her Bollywood debut in Hate Story IV, she said, "The character I played in Hate Story IV was completely in contrast to what I do in Punjabi movies. Initially, when I got the offer, I had said no, because I wasn't sure if I can do it." Eventually, her dad helped her decide. "He is always supportive of me. When I discussed my dilemma with him, he asked me, 'What do you feel from your heart? You guys are actors, and an actor can play any character.' Though Reshma was a very bold character, but after a discussion with dad, I made up my mind," said Ihana, whose Punjabi films’ repertoire has been of characters that are innocent and sweet.
She talks of her second Bollywood stint of doing a cameo in Arjun Rampal's film, where she plays a village girl, a banjaran. "In fact, for the makers it was difficult to make me look like a village girl because I don't look like one. I had to gain some weight for it, and had to change my look completely. The whole shoot was challenging because we are dancing on the top of a running bus, similar to SRK's Chaiyya Chaiyya. They did it on train while we are on a bus. The shoot was in a valley in Jharkhand and was quite tough."
Despite her foray into Bollywood, Ihana says her first love will always be Punjabi cinema. "Actually, after Hate Story, I got a lot more offers for Punjabi cinema. Punjabi would always be my priority. Now, that I have Bollywood movies in my lap, I think I am more comfortable with my roots that lie in Punjab. I can never leave Punjabi cinema that has given me so much."
— Faguni Verma