The Coca Cola girl, who is also a professional canvas artist, found success in the ad industry and soon is going to be seen in Bollywood. No matter what part of the country you are living in, you have seen the poster of Onima Kashyap, stylishly gulping the Coke. But in the sea of newcomers rarely do you come across a face as innocent as Onima Kashyap. She is not strictly a newcomer since she has already made mark in several commercials like Limca, Nivea, Kalyan Jewellers, Lux, Lays, becoming a very familiar face on small screen.
Being a gifted artist she portrays her paintings under the label ‘Onima Creation’. She says “being an artist, I find ways of communication through which I can express my thoughts and emotions to the world. Creativity is the driving force behind both the mediums, be it acting or painting.There is a constant urge in me to imagine and create things around me andActing is one of the medium through which I can transform my thoughts into existence. I have a vivid imagination and it helps me to pull off a character easily as it makes me more sensitive towards it … It’s a spiritual process indeed as in order to portray the emotion of the character we need to introspect and figure out our own life journey. It’s like putting my soul out there and perform.One needs to be really honest to create a good piece of art, be it music, painting or cinema.”
Onima’s favourite commercial was for Limca directed by Ram Madhvani. The actor recalls, “Every ad came through after rigorous auditions. Onima finds the ad industry incredibly professional while being exhilaratingly creative as well. We asked her that her magic bricks ad made quite an impression when it came out. Does doing ads contribute to the actor in you
She explains with a laugh,
“The real test of an actor in an ad is to emote in just 30 seconds as the script is more concise. If I can connect to the audience, inhabit a character and tell astory in such a short span of time I feel I have done my job in a good way. I love doing ad campaigns and I want to continue doing it.”
Onima has shared screen space with actors like Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Amir Khan,` Vivek Oberio, Anushka Sharma and Rajkumar Rao. Her learning from these veterans, she says, is how to be an indulgent performer. Her honesty brings out the truthfulness of the character she plays onscreen.
