A Bollywood star has been leading a double life - as a customer services officer at Oxfordshire County Council.
Sonia
Gill, 27, is a poster girl in India, where she has starred in five
blockbusters - as well as fashion shoots, TV commercials and soap
adverts.
But despite her increasing fame abroad, she refuses to ditch her regular 9-to-5 job at home in Oxford.
Double life: Sonia Gill, 27, is a Bollywood poster girl (left) between shifts at Oxfordshire County Council (right)
Star: The Oxford-born actress has starred in five movies after being scouted at university in Buckinghamshire
At
the council, she works on the Blue Badge team - processing applications
and issuing parking badges for people with mobility problems.
And any film parts she gets will have to wait until she gets a holiday.
She
said: 'I actually enjoy both jobs. I enjoy working at the council - the
people are really nice. I like talking to people so working in customer
services, that’s an advantage.
'I love everything about India and I have really good friends over there. The weather is great and the lifestyle is really good.
'It’s
totally different to here - I have someone doing my cooking and
cleaning. But coming back to the UK brings me back to reality. It keeps
me grounded.
'It’s actually quite good for me because I’m quite a private person.'
Sonia's
career began when a scout spotted photos of her on Facebook while she
was a Law student at Buckinghamshire New University in High Wycombe,
which lead to her modelling in Asian bridal magazines.
Work: Sonia 'loves' her job in which she processes Blue Badge applications and issues disability permits
Secret: Sonia has yet to tell colleagues she flies all over the world for films like Let's Play The Game (pictured)
Work: She spent two months intensively learning Hindi and now gets offered lead roles in romantic comedies
At 22, she was offered a role in Let’s Play The Game and she flew to New York and New Jersey to shoot the Indian film.
Later, she was offered roles in Mumbai, including television adverts and fashion shows, before starring in movie Society.
And
last December she spent six weeks shooting romantic comedy Arsho in the
Punjab region of India, which has recently been released in UK cinemas.
Incredibly, she even learned Hindi.
'I did it in a couple of months. I just converse with the locals but I still have a British accent so that works against me.
'But every time I come back people say I have an Indian accent!'
She
added: 'I usually go to India for six months and do a lot of modelling
and acting and the other six months I’m usually here because my family
are here.
'I’m pretty well known over there because I do a lot of TV commercials and I’m the face of a soap called Santoor.'
And Sonia has even kept her alter ego a secret from her co-workers.
Alter ego: Looking ravishing in gold, this is Sonia at one of her premieres with her co-stars who work full time
'Nobody at work knows what I do, well they didn’t until now,' she said.
'They’re
quite excited. They had no idea. I was hiding it so it was quite a
shock for them. I didn’t really want the attention because I’m quite
shy.'
She added: 'When we do dancing we have a lot of rehearsals. It’s quite tough. I’m not an experienced dancer but I love to dance.
'You get to do all sorts of different dances - one day you’re doing jazz, then you’re doing contemporary then Bollywood.'
But despite her anonymity here, Sonia took her friends and family to watch her in action on the big screen.
'I just had a movie released two weeks ago called Arsho,' she said. 'My family and I watched if together in Leicester Square.
'My
family and friends were really excited - they were shouting and
screaming in the screen. They were pretty impressed. I don’t think they
expected much from me!'
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