Anoushka's film debut with Dance like a Man

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Barely a couple of months back, Anoushka Shankar had said she always enjoyed theatre in school and would love to act in a movie one day. <br />To quote her: "It''s not a ‘when'' question, it''s a ‘what'' question. If I get an interesting offer now, I''ll take it! But I''m not interested in acting in some silly movie just for the sake of it."<br />As luck would have it, she has been offered a role in Kolkata-born director Pamela Rook''s film, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dance like a Man</span>.It will be a screen adaptation of a Mahesh Dattani play of the same name. The film will also have Mitr star Shobana. Rook, who has a penchant for adaptations, had earlier directed Khushwant Singh''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Train to Pakistan</span>. Anoushka is in London now busy preparing for the tribute show to George Harrison on November 29.<br />"It''s confirmed,'''' she said from London, adding, "I''m acting in this film. Earlier, I was offered an MGM movie with a small role. Since I am a believer in quality and not quantity, I put off the role."<br />Meanwhile, the sitarist is nerv-ous about conducting a 50-member orchestra in a long piece composed by Pt Ravi Shankar for the Royal Albert Hall show that is being put together by Olivia Harrison and Eric Clapton. <br />Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Leon Russell, Jim Keltner and Joe Brown will also perform. "It''s a historic event. I''m playing a 15-minute piece and will be conducting the orchestra. Since I''ve been on tour all this while, I had to memo-rise what Bapi''s composed on the flight!" she said. <br />Speaking about her relationship with Harrison, she said, "At one level, as my father''s friend, he was like an uncle to me. But because he was also Bapi''s disciple, that put us on the same level, as close friends. Coming from his perspective as a Beatle he was always highly worried and protec-tive about me, always cautioning me. <br />That was an incredibly valuable checkpoint for me. Over the past one year, I have tried to relive the happy hours spent in his company."<br />Once she is through with the con-cert, Anoushka will head straight for Delhi. "I''ll be coming to Kolkata in December. Till then it''s my movie preparations that''ll keep me busy," she signed off.</div> </div>