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Australian model, Indian dream
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Donna Twycross, the Australian model-cum-actress was in Delhi recently to test the waters in the Indian film and modelling world. R.V. SMITH catches up with the pretty Donna Bella, as she is known back home in Melbourne.
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Donna Twycross.
DONNA BELLA, that is what they call her back home in Melbourne! And that's no exaggeration, for Donna Twycross is both pretty and ladylike, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fine figure that enhances her slim look on a height of 5 ft.7 in. Donna was in Delhi recently to test the waters in the film and modelling world. The lure of India seems to be catching up abroad, with the glam-set making a beeline for Delhi and Mumbai. Donna visited places as well as Mussorie, Goa, Lucknow, Agra and Jaipur. This being her first visit to the country of her dreams, Donna says "I was naturally nervous but ended up enjoying the trip immensely, as I was in good company".
She has acted in some Australian films during the past five years and done some modelling. Her favourite actors are Kate Winslet and Johnny Dalt, though Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez attract a bit of her fancy too. Modelling she took up at the age of 20, which was a good five years before she took to films. Donna is not one who has just drifted into films because of good looks. She did her B.A. in theatre and drama to qualify for them - something that few actresses do.
In her early thirties Donna is conservative as far as her family is concerned. Her mother-in-law, Ann, taught in Delhi in the 1960s and so did her father-in-law. She calls them Mamaji and Papaji!
Donna freaked out on vegetarian dishes in Delhi-cholay-kulcha and malai kofta being her favourites, with an occasional helping of Mughlai cuisine, the seekh kababs and shammi kababs particularly. But she prefers to call herself a vegetarian, as back home she seldom eats meat.Another favourite of hers while in India was milk in kulhars. She had plenty of it when she went to Agra to see the Taj. She found it fascinating, and the Agra Fort and Etmad-us-Daulah too. The beeches of Goa next attracted her fancy and she did a lot of sunbathing there. "Mumbai's markets are good but Delhi's are cute," says Donna. "I loved to wander into the streets and admire the quaint shops and the stuff they sold. It was fabulous". The Eastern bazaars fascinate her. She didmodelling for Coles Supermarket and some TV assignments, though she would love to do more. "My favourite serial in Australia is "Most Wanted", she confides.
Donna has developed a love for bangles and henna. "My daughter and I got our hands painted with mehndi in Ajmal Khan Market. I also got a lehenga, a salwar-kameez suit and a kurta and gharara but "I didn't find Indian perfume (attar). That I was told could be had in Old Delhi. But I didn't have the time so I asked someone to send Attar Mehboob, Attar Hina and Attar Firdaus through my Mamaji and Papaji, who'll stay longer in India," she disclosed.
Donna finds Indian girls attractive and was taken up by "the way they decorated themselves". Mussoorie caught her fancy as a nice cosy place. "I'll come again," she says as there's a lot more to see and experience. This short visit has already turned my head and I discovered how really exciting the world here is".
"Monsoon Wedding" and "Lagaan" are the two Indian films Donna has seen so far. She hopes to see some more on her next trip, which may be as soon as business calls her. "That would be absolutely thrilling," she exclaims. "I'll buy a lot of jewellery and costumes, maybe some saris too as they heighten the feminine appeal. Add to that a dab of attar and my Indian dream is complete," she gestures with henna-dyed hands scouting for curios in Gurdwara Road.
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