Born on May 1, 1989, in Bhubaneshwar, actress Sonnalli Seygall has spent her childhood in Kolkata. She was 15 when she won the title of the Pantene Teen Queen India pageant in Kolkata. (All photos/Sonnalli Seygall's official Instagram account)
Sonnalli started off as a model and has worked with ace fashion designers like Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Rohit Bal.
In picture: Sonnalli Seygall with her Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 co-stars. She shared this picture with a caption: "Raising a toast to next wk this time #16thoctober #pyaarkapunchnama2 #pkp2 @kartikaaryan @omkarkapoor @mesunnysingh @officialishitasharma @nushrat_bharucha"
In 2011, Sonnalli Seygal made her Bollywood debut with Luv Ranjan's Pyaar Ka Punchnama. She played the sexy Rhea in the rom-com opposite Raayo S. Bakhirta.
Four years later, Sonnalli Seygall starred in the second installment of Pyaar Ka Punchnama, again a character of a hottie, named Supriya, opposite Sunny Singh. In the same year, she also starred in Wedding Pulav, starring Kannada actor Diganth and Anushka Ranjan.
However, after a point, Sonnalli Seygall felt unsatisfied with getting only glam roles, which don't explore other aspects of her talent.
"When you are offered roles like that, I personally don't look at them as objectification, but yes, I do feel that I got typecast. It was not out of choice. It was not that I chose those parts and I only wanted to play glamorous, sexy characters," Sonnalli told IANS.
Well, only glamorous characters have kept coming her way, confessed Sonnalli. "Somewhere it got broken in Highjack and Setters, because of Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2. My role in Pyaar Ka Punchnama 1 was extremely uber glamorous, model type. Also because I am from a modelling background and I have been a Miss India, so it was easy for Luv sir (Luv Ranjan, director) to see me like that initially," said the actress.
Sonnalli further added, "It was only in Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, that it was broken a little bit, perhaps not in the terms of the look, but character. That's what led to my characters in Highjack and Setters, where I've played a pilot and cop, respectively."
In a candid confession, Sonnalli Seygall even revealed that she had to lose a "great work opportunity" as she was not willing to go under the knife as suggested by the casting director.
Sonnalli Seygall had recently given an audition for a "fantastic role" when a "well-known casting director" asked her to make some changes on her body, unnaturally.
"I was very excited for this audition and prepared myself really well because I wanted to bag it and I did. But on meeting the director there, I was asked to make some changes on my body, unnaturally," Sonnalli said in a statement.
"It was a no brainer for me to say no, even though my heart broke. But I would never put my body under the knife," she added.
She refused to name the director as his "vision did not work" for her. "I wouldn't deny that when I had entered the industry long time ago, I had faced similar problems... that I was too skinny. I wouldn't deny that it did cross my mind then to go through unnatural procedures to enhance certain features. But I am glad that I didn't go ahead with it, instead I worked really hard on my body and ate well."
Currently, she is all geared up for the release of her next film Jai Mummy Di, which is slated to release on January 17. She feels her character in the forthcoming film will break that "typecast perception completely".
"Because Sanjh is not like me at all. As an actor, I feel unsatisfied when I only keep getting sexy and glamorous roles, which don't explore other things that I may have to offer. But this film will take care of that. I really hope to get meatier roles in the future," she said.
Jai Mummy Di is a light-hearted family comedy. The dynamics between two mothers is the backdrop of the film. It also stars Sunny Singh, with whom Sonnalli has previously worked in Pyar Ka Punchnama 2. She said she was very excited to team up with Sunny once again.
"When I got to know that I'm working with Sunny again, I was really excited, mostly because I felt super comfortable. We had a great rapport while working on 'Pyar Ka Punchnama 2'. Our chemistry was really applauded by the audience. So from the work perspective, I was content because people enjoyed watching us together," she said.
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