Reports: M Aamir Khan
SRINAGAR: When Rehmat Rattan reached the grand finale of Miss PTC Punjabi in October 2019, she could not get any votes from people back home in Kashmir due to the internet gag.
However, the girl from Jawahar Nagar area of Srinagar city still went on to win the beauty pageant.
After winning Miss PTC Punjabi, she was seen in several popular music videos and now she is all set to make her debut in the Punjabi film industry.
“I am from Jawahar Nagar area and I did my schooling from the Mallinson Girls School. Though I liked to dance right from my childhood, education was always a priority. After schooling, I came to Shimla for graduation (Bachelor of Dental Surgery-BDS) and I am a gold medalist in dentistry. After completing BDS, I won Miss PTC Punjabi in October 2019. I was the only girl from Kashmir among 500 participants. I gave my best but could not get any votes from Kashmir as the Internet was not working (after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019). But, I got a lot of love from Punjab and unfortunately, after winning the October finale, many people back home did not come to know about it either,” Rehmat told TKM.
Rehmat said she was not interested in modeling but it opened doors for her in the Punjabi film industry.
“Winning was a good moment and I got many offers. I got several offers to shoot music videos. I did not want to become a model but I did three music videos. It gave me a stepping stone and later I got many film offers,” said Rehmat.
Now, she will be seen in an Amazon web series and a Punjabi film starring Yuvraj Hans.
“Three to four films are in the pipeline but I will be debuting opposite Yuvraj Hans. Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, our shooting in Europe got postponed. Now, the shooting in Europe is scheduled in February. There is another Amazon Prime series – ‘Chandigarh Girls’. It is about a Kashmir girl living in Chandigarh. The shooting has almost completed barring some sequences that have to be shot in Kashmir,” she said.
Rehmat said she could not take part in the Miss India finals in 2017 earlier due to her BDS exams.
“I went for Miss India in 2017 and reached the top 30. However, when I was supposed to contest the grand finale in Malaysia, I could not go there as I had to appear for BDS final year exams. Even during student days, I was getting offers but I then decided to first complete my degree. After completing the course in 2018, I started concentrating on my passion for acting,” she said.
She said her family had always supported her in her endeavors.
“My family is very happy and has always supported. While I am excited about the roles that I will be playing in the Punjabi film industry, I ultimately want to make a mark in Bollywood,” she said.