That was after Vivah turned out to be a sleeper hit nearly a year ago. Since then, the film’s heroine Amrita Rao has not looked back.

At present, the actor, who became popular with her “good girl looks”, is shooting for Victory, a film that has Harman Baweja as her co-star and the Australian spinner Brett Lee playing a cameo (the film reportedly has a line-up of star cricketers from Australia, New Zealand and England). “I am playing a small-town girl in Jaisalmer. I don’t have any scenes with Lee, my scenes are with Harman,” says Rao, who is back in the city after shooting in Jaisalmer and Sydney. “This year I have been living out of a suitcase.”

Life has never been busier than this — she is also acting in movies like Short Cut, an Anil Kapoor production, with Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi, and Shyam Benegal’s Mahadev, and there are talks of her bagging a role in David Dhawan’s Hook Ya Crook. “I am a huge fan of Shyam Benegal and couldn’t believe that I would be working with him. I am playing a village girl for the first time in his film,” she says excitedly.

Her film career may be on an upswing, but Rao insists that certain things would never change. “I’m still very shy. The glamour of the film industry hasn’t changed me much,” laughs Rao, who debuted with Ab Ke Baras in 2002. She is still a mamma’s girl—mother Kanchana is still her constant escort at social dos. “My mother is my support system, but she never forces anything on me. But I can’t deny the values my parents inculcated in me,” says the 26-year-old, sounding like her demure character in Vivah that took her places.

Despite planning a long innings in Bollywood, Rao is not keen on moulding herself for a bold onscreen image for the sake of commercial success, though her dance number Tum Mile in her last release My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves was rather titillating. “I don’t want to change what I have created for myself so far,” she says.

Modelling happened early in life, while Rao was still in college. “I landed up at an audition for a fairness cream ad campaign and got selected. There was no stopping after that,” says Rao. “Ken Ghosh selected me for Ishq Vishq after seeing me in a Cadbury’s commercial. That’s when I became serious about Hindi films.”

Rao first tasted success with Ishq.., after which she was cast in Farah Khan’s superhit Main Hoon Na. Post Ishq..., her onscreen pairing with Shahid Kapoor too became successful, which was later repeated in Vivah. “I think the audience loves to see me and Shahid as a couple in films,” she says. Through the better part of last year, rumour mills kept alive the stories of an alleged link-up with Kapoor. Rao was even held responsible for his break-up with then-girlfriend Kareena Kapoor. “These stories came as a surprise. Shahid called up to apologise after that. Kareena has always been very sweet to me,” adds Rao.

Rumours are yet to die down, but the Vivah heroine stresses on her single status. “I am still waiting for the special person with whom I can think of love and marriage,” she adds.