Soniya Mehra says acting is a hereditary calling

Late actor Vinod Mehra’s daughter says acting is a hereditary calling and shares the ecstasy of holding the highest scorer title in the last level acting exam. Soniya Mehra talks on her aspirations, time at the acting school and why it’s great to be a women.
“I don’t know much about luck… I can't really consider myself lucky considering it is not easy to be taken seriously by some people who can throw around terms like ‘bimbette’ and ‘airhead’ which are extremely offensive.It’s a timeless brains v/s beauty debate where according to urban myths coming across a beautiful intelligent woman is like finding life on the moon! But women are a force to reckon - always have, always will be.
When my dad passed away I was a mere toddler. I was brought up by my maternal grandparents in Kenya with all the comforts. There I mixed with so many different cultures and races that I could have been anyone or anything I wanted. Nobody there knew the importance or symbolism of being Soniya 'Vinod' Mehra. But I think acting has been handed down to me as a legacy, a hereditary calling as opposed to an opportunist one; which is why I started my training when I was only eight-years-old.
This is when I reached my last levels exams at the age of 15, and boy, was I nervous! Our acting coaches and examiners were all from the Academy in London. After I gave my exam I waited anxiously as my coach Mrs Hughes went inside to collect my results. She came in with a stony look on her face. “What happened? Is it that bad?” I asked. “Soniya, she loved you… Nobody has ever got that high a score in Mombasa or Nairobi.” We hugged and both started crying. It was a big deal for me to finally see my efforts reach some kind of fruition. I found out later that it was the highest anybody had ever got in East Africa. It was a proud moment for me, and being a female Indian actor, I was so happy I was awarded with this title.
Being the fairer sex, since we are constantly judged by people, it has become pertinent to prove yourself and we have done it time and again. Today Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Film and Best Director, that too with a male-oriented script. Just goes to show that men should just take directions from us women!”