Daily soaps are not my cup of tea Tina Kuwajerwala

In the world of Indian television, if there is any couple other than Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan who are always in the news, it is Hussain and Tina. Ever since they won Nach Baliye2 though they have not been seen together in any other shows they have always managed to stay in the public eye. Tina Kuwajerwala has recently been in the limelight for revamping Hussain's looks in Indian Idol and Kumkum. She spoke to Tellychakkar on her life, career plans and Hussain. Excerpts from the interview. You were one of the biggest finds of the television industry in 2006. After winning Nach Baliye, you seemed to have been in the news everywhere. But of late, very little has been heard about you. Where are you and what are are you up to these days? I am very much here in Mumbai! As you know I am not a core part of this industry and a bit shy of the camera. I am a fashion designer by profession and have been busy with my work. Of late, am doing a lot of bridal stuff. Post Nach Baliye, I did get a lot of offers and took up hosting of a couple of shows, but nothing more than that. Though I got offers to do daily soaps, I have declined them – it is not my cup of tea. When will we see you back on television? If offered, will you take up hosting Nach Baliye? I have very fond memories of Nach Baliye. I was completely new to dancing and had never faced the camera before. Without Hussain's support I would not have made it. In fact, even today when we do stage shows, we get requests to perform certain dances we did in Nach Baliye! If I get an offer from Nach Baliye I will definitely like to host the show. Currently, I do not have any television offers in hand and am busy with my fashion designing. Are you behind Hussain’s makeover in this season's Indian Idol and Kumkum? Last year I had worked on his looks from the Gala round, but this time I have been responsible for his looks right from the beginning. I think the credit of his new look goes jointly to both of us! This year when Kumkum had a reincarnation track, the production house approached me for styling Hussain. I took up that offer immediately and the first thing I insisted was to change his hairstyle. I wanted Hussain to grow long hair. He was not too keen on it initially and I had a hard time trying to convince him. I told him that not just his fans, even I got bored of his same looks for so many years and it was high time that he was seen in a new avatar! Plus he also underwent a new exercise regime and lost weight. Both of these factors combined made him undergo a transformation in terms of looks. That is how you got the new-look Hussain today. What was your thought process while designing the new look for Hussain in Kumkum? I was very keen on making him look very different. And since the reincarnation was changing his character a lot, it helped me. Thankfully, the long hair went very well with Hussain's youthful character there. Jeans, trendy t-shirts, new contact lens and colourful clothes were quite in contrast from the blazers and formal shirts his viewers and fans were used to seeing him in earlier. I think that is why his new look created so much of an impact. In Indian Idol, I wanted him to have a semi-professional look and wear different types of coats in a unique manner. That is why you see him in long coats, formal blazers in a very different fashion with loose ties. His Indian Idol look is quite different from how you see him in Kumkum. How does Hussain contribute to this? If he does not like something, he is very vocal about it and we do not force him to wear that outfit. For fashion designers, it is very important to make sure that the actor or model is comfortable in what he is wearing. So if Hussain does not like some clothes, we reject them right away. Do you follow the shows Hussain does? (smiles) Frankly speaking I do not! But I think I will start doing it now for purely professional reasons. There are many clothes which look very nice when you see them, and even when you see someone wearing it. But it may look very bad on camera. This has happened a number of times with Hussain and thus I think I should follow his shows.