A BUDDING young actor will hit the big screen later this month after making his film debut in the first ever ‘BollyBrit’ movie.
Aaron Pandher was just 11 when the film was shot last summer – and is now hoping his star turn will lead to a career in show business.
The youngster, from Grove Crescent, Hanworth, plays the role of Amit in Naachle London – a feel-good romantic drama with Bollywood sensibilities, but tackling contemporary British issues.
And while Aaron would have been happy for any role in the film, he was surprised when he learned he had scooped such a major part.
He said: “It’s one of the lead roles. The film is about two single parents and I play Amit, one of their children. I was shocked when I got the part because they wanted someone who was 15. I’d been told not to get my hopes up – I was hoping I’d get to be a background dancer at least.”
Aaron, who recently turned 12, spent eight weeks filming the movie between July and September and
although it was a great experience he said it was also a challenge.
He said: “The script was in Hindi, which I’d never spoken before, so that was difficult, but I knew which scenes we were filming on each day, so I was able to learn my lines the night before.
“The hardest thing was probably getting up in the morning. I wasn’t working every day but we had very long days from about 7.30am to 8pm, so it was quite tiring.
“I really enjoyed it though, and everyone got on really well, like a family. To be part of it was an amazing experience.”
The film will premiere at Feltham Cineworld on February 22 before being released at around 60 cinemas across the country two days later.
And Aaron’s mum Nicky, dad Raj and sister Simran are looking forward to finally seeing him in action.
Nicky said: “We’ve never seen him act. We used to drop him off on set and pick him up, but we were never there when they were shooting so we’ve just seen the bits on TV that everyone else has seen.
“So we’re really looking forward to seeing the whole film and Aaron’s acting skills. We’re very proud of him and what he’s achieved and we just hope he can continue to be successful.”
