Giselle Monteiro destined for India

Brazilian beauty Giselle Monteiro has been winning accolades for her role as Harleen Kaur in Love Aaj Kal. Her Indian looks have won her fans galore as well. Giselle says she was destined to come to India and play a role. “My dad used to call me Indian when I was a kid and sing songs for me on India,” she says.

"But the actual inspiration started from an Opera that we have in Brazil,” Giselle reveals. “The soap opera has sparked a mini India boom in Brazil,” she further adds.

 Giselle who is a big fan of the soap opera says the cultures, the traditions and the colours of India have had a huge impact on her.

“The Opera known as Caminho das Indias (Way of the Indias) telenovela, with Hindi phrases thrown into the Portuguese dialogue, has piqued Brazilians' interest. Hindi phrases, yoga, meditation and Indian dance are emphasized on the show,” informs Giselle. So much so, that Giselle has also taken to Yoga as a hobby now and she is learning how to cook Indian food.

The Opera, says Gisele, is woven in a story form, like most Brazilian soaps and is told in grueling 200 or so episodes, over more than six months. "Love stories of a low caste boy Bhuvan and a beautiful high-caste woman Maya are very popular in this opera,” she adds further.

"The novela shows the respect in India for the elders of a family, which isn't always the case in the West," says the Brazilian model. “I didn’t get to see many episodes, since they started and I had to leave Brazil. But I follow it up on the youtube regularly,” she says with a smile.

For now Giselle may be missing the soap opera, but she certainly seems to have made a place for herself in the hearts of her fans in India.

Brazilian Harleen to continue in Bollywood

It was a feel-like-paradise as we saw this cherubic Punjabi girl in ‘Love Aaj Kal’ and became transfixed. Obviously, this is all about the Brazilian beauty Gissele Monteiro who just carried off our senses with her jaw-dropping beauty and convincing performance as Harleen Kaur.

After making high waves with grand appreciations by the audiences, it was the turn of Consulate of Brazil to sing appraisals of her. According to closer sources, “It is true that Gissele Monteiro was invited by Fausto Godoy, secretary, Consulate of Brazil during last week. The entire council members welcomed her with grand applause as they felt proud about enacting the role of traditional Indian girl, in spite of being a Brazilian.”

The consulate has extended its assistance for her future stay in Mumbai and career in Bollywood.

Giselle 'Harleen' Monteiro wants Aamir

The Harleen Kaur of ‘Love Aaj Kal’ wants to work with Aamir Khan

Watching Love Aaj Kal on its opening day, many were left scratching their heads in disbelief when the name of Giselle Monteiro appeared in the end credits of the movie. “How could a firang babe play a shy and quiet Punjabi kudi with such finesse? No, there must have been some technical glitch,” many must have thought. But no, technical glitch there was none. It was Giselle the Brazilian model, who shocked the movie buffs with her true blue Punjabi looks that belong more to Bhatinda than Brazil.

Now, having entered the Hindi film industry with a storm, the mystery girl of ‘Love Aaj Kal’ is learnt to be thinking of giving Bollywood a serious shot.

And guess who’s on her wish-list?

Aamir Khan!

“I am a fan of Aamir Khan. I have watched a couple of his films and I want to work with him. I know he is a great actor in India,” Giselle is quoted as saying by NDTV.

About the other Khan - Saif Ali Khan, that is - Giselle is full of praises about how he helped her prepare for her role. In fact, Giselle had to watch a good number of old Indian movies to understand her character of a reserved Punjabi girl Harleen in the film.

Today, Giselle is eager to learn Hindi and work more in Bollywood.

Learn fast, gal! We can’t wait to see more of you.

Indian mask for Giselle Monteiro (Harleen Kaur)

Mumbai: Pouncing over the media-existing fame of actors like Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, 'Desi-Brazilian' Giselle Monteiro aka Harleen Kaur is gaining popularity among all generations.

In an interview, she discussed her character in the film as well as discussed herself over the confirmation of her being a Brazilian or an Indian, she said, "When I was six, my father used to call me 'Indian' and yet when I do traveling a lot, people recognize me as an Indian only."

Giselle played the role of an Indian traditional punjabi girl who is very shy by nature, "The role was a bit difficult but Imtiaz played fantastic to portray me in a role so that I create a perfect resemblance of an Indian girl," explains Giselle on "Love Aaj Kal".

Imtiaz didn't have to work much over her make-up as her Indian resemblance helped him a lot. No one really knew who the actress was but the people were definite about her Indian origin which was revealed with the release of "Love Aaj Kal".