RISHMA MALIK
MAKING NEWS

The first test at MTV was excellent, the first one at [V] was a disaster. “I was having a bad day and a few things had gone wrong. I guess I bought all of that to the camera. So the camera saw an insecure VJ and not a very confident VJ,” she recalls. After a few more tests MTV finally gave her the nod. Contracts were being discussed and she’d even spoken to the top bosses in Singapore. But Rishma didn’t want the Channel [V] screen-test to remain ""ike a curse”. So on the day she was to sign the MTV contract, she went in for the third — and final — screen test with Channel [V]. The test went off well and Jules Fuller at Channel [V] who knew about the impending deal with MTV, called the entire office staff to look at it and decide. That’s where they all came in, the receptionist and the chaiwallah included. They said yes, “and the fact that they all supported me and liked me was heartening.” A rather big scale display of abject faith won the day for Channel [V]. But there’s more to the deal than just faith. The lolly offered was bigger, brighter, seemingly tastier. “They also wanted me to get involved in producing shows... they wanted to groom me. Basically there’s no place here to stop. I can make things happen.”

Rishma Malik can really make it happen. When she wasn’t sure of what do after schooling she enrolled for a Mass Communications course at Toronto University. She performed very well in this academic course and went on to do publicity for an educational film in Canada. The film — a multi award winning project — got publicist Rishma a little publicity herself.

A few months later, she entered the Ms. India Canada pageant and a few months after that, she won it. Like most beauty title holders Rishma too tried to cash in on the title. “I went to schools all over Canada to talk to kids. I love teenagers, I can understand what they go through. Because no one came and talked to me when I was going through my teenage years.”

A scheduled appearance in the Ms India pageant brought her to Mumbai but the going wasn’t as easy at it had looked from afar. At any given point in time, Mumbai is teeming with good- looking girls, waiting to break in and make it. Rishma got wind of the kind of competition soon enough and began working hard. The toss up for a possible profession was between films and VJing. Since Hindi was a problem, VJing became the first option. “I come from a liberal upbringing so I have first hand ‘experience’ in the music business, having hung out with musicians in Toronto and Canada.” And that’s how Rishma has now become to be the new face of Channel [V] news.

But she’s sure that there’s more to her future than mere news programmes. Like producing and hosting her own shows.

For the moment though there are roles to be looked forward to in films like Kaizad Gustad’s Bombay Boys and Kailash Surendranath’s Love You Hamesha. She’s also hosting another show for the channel and more should be on the way. A pretty packed schedule for a girl who left Canada sure of what she wanted to do but not sure of what was coming her way. “I left behind family, friends, ex-boyfriends and came to Mumbai from Toronto. And now I’m in Hong Kong. That’s the story.”