London dreams

Urmila Matondkar will be celebrating her birthday in London with a few close friends. The actress flew down to the UK capital on Monday and plans to soak in the cold weather and explore the city. She speaks about her birthday plan:


WHO: Urmila Matondkar
WHAT: Talking about her birthday plans
PIC: Dabboo Ratnani
Makeup and hair: Ojas
Styling: Junelia Aguiar

Birthday girl
Birthday's are not big in my family. The only birthday that we've ever really celebrated is my younger sister's. Since the time I was a kid, my parents have been donating how much ever money they could on our birthdays. I hated it then but now it is so instilled in me that my birthday is incomplete without a small act of charity. The special thing about my birthday this year is that I'm going to be in London. I've been to the city so many times on work assignments but I've hardly got a chance to explore it. This time I'm going to walk in the freezing cold at Hyde Park or sit on a bench at the Covent Garden. I also want to absorb the culture at the street-side cafes. Basically I want to do all the things that normal tourists do. Then I plan to head to either Spain or Greece. All I know is that I want to let my hair down and have some fun.

At home
I'm a complete home bird. So much so, that I have to remind my folks that I'm a star. My upbringing is so grounded, so middle-class, that it is impossible for me to act the diva. I value relationships with people. I have few, but very good friends and I love it when they drop over to my place and we get to chat until sunrise.

On the cards
I know you haven't seen much of me recently. To me, films and awards are not the be all and end all of my existence. There's so much to do and learn in this big beautiful world. Since last year, I've been busy doing things that I always wanted to. I went to Thailand's Koh Samui island and took a four-day scuba diving course, though I don't know how to swim. I've been painting, writing a bit and am also learning how to play the guitar. I'm a voracious reader too. I'm not good at planning. So maybe I'll get to work on a couple of kick-ass films or guest appearances this year. Nothing conventional really. I want to learn a new language and I'm debating between taking up French or Spanish. Whatever I do, I want to excel at it. I'm looking forward to learning new things in this year.