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Life will get hotter for shop girl Shobna

1/10/2001

HOW does a local girl feel about her leap from obscurity to the status of a Corrie star?

"Is that what I am?." Shobna Gulati appears genuinely oblivious to her new status.

She is perhaps less than in awe with TV fame because it has been a long hard road to somewhere near the top. She was always interested in drama and dance but chose the distinctly unlovey subjects of Arabic and Middle East politics as her degree subjects.

"I read a very academic subject at Manchester University. After that I travelled to London to find my 'fame and fortune' and like any actress I attended hundreds of auditions. The audition for dinnerladies was difficult because there was so much competition and I was delighted when I was chosen. I had lots of fun playing Anita. But Coronation Street was different because I was asked for. There was only a small pool of actresses at the audition."

Despite a stint in Eastenders as Sonia's social worker, Shobna says she is glad to be back in the North where her heart lies though her return coincided with her home towns worst ever social strife.

"I was really upset to learn about the problems in Oldham but I can see the reasons for it. People there have not integrated properly and there are many cracks in the community. The situation was like a huge melting pot waiting to boil over. Hopefully the trouble will subside now. I do lots of work with young people in Oldham, at the Oldham Theatre workshops, and work with the anti-racism groups, which I enjoy."

Although Shobna's Asian parents are traditional she says her father observed the adage "when in Rome do as the Romans" and encouraged her to become Westernised at a young age, unlike her Corrie character Sinita.

She said: "My first storyline on Coronation Street was quite dramatic, but thankfully I have had no personal experiences of arranged marriages. At the moment things are quiet for Sinita but that is set to change. There are some very exciting storylines coming up which will shock everyone - it will be fun for me to do."

Will these involve her boss Dev, currently having problems with partner Gina?

"I'm not allowed to say - you'll have to watch and see!"

Asked which part she would like to play in Corrie, other than Sinita, and I see a flicker of a wicked sense of humour.

"Ashley Peacock." she shouts excitedly. "I've often thought Anita from dinnerladies was a cross between Sarah Lancashire and Ashley Peacock (she does a convincing impression of the Ashley whine). Actually it's because I fancy Tracy Shaw," she giggles. There's a pause. "No don't put that as the headline," she begs: "I'm heterosexual."

So does anyone in particular have claims on her heart? "I am dating someone," she confesses. "He is very famous but I'm not prepared to talk about it." Although protective of her love life she is keen to talk about her six-year-old son Akshay - so long as I promise to spell his name correctly.

"It is hard fitting in time for him, as it is for any working mother, but we have lots of fun in the evenings. We never get to watch Coronation Street though, that's our storytime together," she laughs.

Shobna is also currently nominated for a BAFTA award for her role in a 10-minute short film directed by Tinge. So is she planning to head off into the glamorous world of film, or will she stay in Coronation Street for years and become a Street veteran like Ken Barlow?

"I've told you I want to be Ashley, not Ken," she quips. "Who knows - I've got no major plans for the future yet. I am just enjoying the moment. Coronation Street does put constraints on my time though. I have done a lot of work with the Skylight Circus in Rochdale, which I love.

"But" she adds wistfully, "I haven't had much time to hang upside down from a trapeze recently."