After a debut opposite Salman Khan in what turned out to be among the most successful films of all time, one expected great things from Hazel Keech. But the half-British, half-Indian actress has kept a surprisingly low profile since last year’s Bodyguard. In fact, it’s only this weekend, nearly a year after Bodyguard’s release, that Hazel has finally appeared in only her second film, that too an item dance in Maximum. She admits that she didn’t capitalise on the success of Bodyguard enough.
“I wasn’t allowed to talk to the media or indulge in PR-related activities much. The makers of the film wanted to ensure I remain the surprise package of the film, so I wasn’t unveiled until the film actually released. In hindsight, I realise I could have used the weeks leading up to Bodyguard’s release to make myself seen and heard,” she says.
That apart, there was also the problem of getting typecast. “Many people wanted to cast me, but they were roles very similar to what I had done in Bodyguard. They just couldn’t see me as anybody other than the character of Maya. It was either that or roles that I did not like much, those that I felt didn’t suit me. In fact, one of the main reasons why I did an item song in Maximum was to consciously change my image and let people know I am capable of more,” she adds.
So what kind of films does she want to work in? A dream role, she says, would be like the one Vidya Balan played in Kahaani. “It was such a lovely script and a brilliantly sketched role. That is the kind of film I want to be working in, and that’s the kind of character I want to play,” she says. And she really is more than just a pretty face. Though born and brought up in England for the first 20 years of her life, she is a dancer trained in Bharatnatyam and Kathak. “My mother is Indian, so we were exposed to Indian culture and movies from a very young age.