Milind makes way for magic

Born to a typical middle class Maharashtrian family, Milind Soman had surprised his parents by his decision to be a model, but this decision turned out to be one of the best of his life.
Hailed as the icon for male models in the entire Indian sub-continent, Soman says his childhood was hardly anything adventurous. It is only with time that he dishes out little treasured nuggets from memory lane for HT Next.
“I did everything that a kid does normally,” he starts. “I was very good in studies and also took part actively in extra-curricular activities which made me the teacher’s favourite,” says the ex-student of St Antonio D'Silva Boys High School, Dadar.
Ask him about his naughty side as a kid and he says, “I remember cheating while in school.” “Sometime in examinations and sometimes in class, but then I don’t remember any student from school who did not cheat.”
Most of his time was also taken up by swimming. “I took to competitive swimming while at school and that demanded a lot of my time, so I ended up with pretty less time for pranks,” he says. “ In fact, I gave up competitive swimming because I got tired of competing with myself after setting the national records in swimming from 1984 to 1988.”
He was never a naughty child at home either, “I had a lot of pets at home. From cats and dogs to lizards, they were my playmates at home and ensured that I stayed out of trouble.”
Having been to an all-boys school, one could expect him to be looking forward to finding more female friends in college. “There was just one girl in college and she came from a conservative Muslim family. She preferred to stick to her books than with the guys in college. In fact, she was very pretty and I also remember her name, Ruhee,” he adds with a laugh.
His latest television venture, Ghost Bana Dost, is set to air on Star One soon. “I have always been a big fan of fantasy and magic,” he says. “I have loved the Harry Potter films.” And we do see a little of that in Daboo, the protagonist of the serial Ghost Bana Dost. We hope the magic comes through as well with this venture.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on December 7, 2006