Deepika, Priyanka, and Aishwarya in their many roles have gone some way in nailing the canard that models can’t act. Sushmita Sen too could have easily slotted into this reference of models turned actors – but her body of work never managed to show the depth her talents justified. Because Sushmita did make a relatively easy transition into cinema, just a year after becoming the first Indian to pick up the Miss Universe honors in 1994. The biggest of banners came calling, and Sushmita did enough in the launch vehicle ‘Dastak’, directed by Mahesh Bhatt at the peak of his directorial run. Sure, the accent was there, when it was felt that Sushmita was engaging in Hindi diction classes rather than enacting a scene. And unlike her peer, Sushmita never could call on a vehicle like ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ or ‘Taal’, where the entire spotlight was on Aishwarya. Movies, where she pinned her hopes ended up as duds, directors, and banners, lost patience, and Sushmita soon lost that WoW factor. All that remains is the impression that it could all have been much different…
