Meet Tarana Raja, a multi-talented artiste who's made her mark through the mediums of radio, television, film, theatre and some.
Tarana Raja fell in love with showbiz pretty early. At the age of three actually, when she danced as a "Little Wonder" to Dekho Maine Dekha Hai Yeh Ek Sapna in a film dance company. She's enjoyed centre stage ever since.
The spring in her step extended into the radio studio when Tarana discovered the medium right after college: "I started with a one-minute news capsule on 107.1 with Radio Midday. I soon got my own show to host on weekends. When private FM came into play in 2002, I had a ready spot with GO92.5FM which later became 94.3 Radio One." She went on to rule the airwaves and became the familiar voice Mumbaikars loved waking up to with her breakfast show Good Morning Mumbai, which she co-hosted with fellow RJ, Jaggu for seven years. Looking back on those years, Tarana reminisces, "It was the best time of my life. Even today if I were offered another radio show, I'd take it up in a heartbeat." She has also dubbed for Hollywood films like 300, Eragon and the animated feature Quest for Camelot.
When not mesmerising audiences with her voice and quick wit, Tarana concurrently quite kept in step with the beat. She's a trained kathak dancer who perfected her art over 12 years from the age of five, and also pursued contemporary dance at 16 when she worked as an instructor and performer at The Shiamak Davar Institute for the Performing Arts and for more than eight years as a member of The Shiamak Davar Dance Company.
Tarana quit dancing professionally for good in 2004 when it "all got too much. I still love both forms of dance, but I wouldn't want to dance professionally again. That phase of my life is over. It's great when you're a teenager but now I don't have the time or the knees to dance 12 hours a day anymore."
Instead, she has others dancing to her tune as she essays the role of Neha Shergill, a super mum to four kids and a loving confidant to her husband Vikram, on Sony TV's Bade Ache Lagte Hain. For viewers wondering if there's a tangent between the real life and reel life characters, Tarana expounds, "Neha is a housewife, Tarana has been a career woman always; Neha is a mother of four, Tarana is still pampered by her mother and has no kids. Neha can be very insecure and jealous, Tarana is very secure and non jealous to a fault. Besides that we're very similar. We have to be considering the part was written for me."
She's also done supporting roles in Pyaar ke Side Effects, Laga Chunari Mein Daag, Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, Karthik Calling Karthik and most recently Jodi Breakers.
When quizzed on her ability to multitask between being a film and television actor, professional dancer, emcee, RJ and show anchor, Tarana replies matter-of-factly, "I love them all, and have never been able to choose one over the other. In fact I don't think it's odd to do so many things as they're all related to being a performer. If I were a banker, stockbroker, doctor and carpenter then that would be odd." Touch!
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