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Of love and loyalty Seema Rahmani with her pet python

Seema Rahmani, the vivacious actress who enchanted the ‘intelligent’ audience with her performance in Vinod Pande’s Sins, hosts the show on NDTV Good Times. “We not only talk about dogs and cats but also farm animals like cows and buffaloes which are treated as pets in India. We go to rehabilitation and rescue centres to spread awareness about snakes. Most of the time they get killed without any fault of theirs.” A pet lover, Seema says she loves everything on four legs. She used to have a young python when she was in Los Angeles. “There it is legal to keep a snake as a pet. I used to play hide and seek with him. As I grew up I realised there are certain animals which are best suited to the wild. In the show we make it clear which animals are legal to be kept at home.”

Another interesting part of the show consists of suggestions to people which pet suits their lifestyle. “For instance, cats are for people who have little time to devote to pet care. Dogs are loyal but they demand too much attention. Cats are fiercely independent but they love you. Another advantage is, you don’t need to bathe them daily if they remain indoors.”

Seema would know because now she has a cat named Al Pacino. “I found him during the Mumbai floods in July 2005. He was very weak at that time but walked in a style which reminded me of Al Pacino. As I am too busy these days, he is a perfect choice.” Seema suggests that people adopt stray dogs. “They are strong, loyal and easy to bring up. People are after exotic pedigree, but they don’t realise the difference in the climate. They end up spending a lot of money on their care. This way the problem of stray dogs can be solved. Even housing societies can adopt such dogs. They are easier to train as watchdogs.”

Recently seen in Loins of Punjab, the versatile Seema has been an amateur boxer, has published a book of poetry, was a lead singer in a rock band and is a certified scuba diver. She insists accepting a bold film like Sins at the start of her career hasn’t limited her choice of roles, as films are just one of the options for her. She has also talked about the casting couch in the industry. “I didn’t want to, but when one of the channels did a sting operation I found people around me saying no such thing exists in the industry. Since I had an experience, I decided to come out with it. It was before I was an actress. I had written a play, and one of the producers wanted to make a film of it.

As the project got prolonged, I realised that he wanted some ‘other’ favour from me.”

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