I am playing the character of Kumud, who's the wife of an honest cop who dreams of living a lavish lifestyle, but has to suppress her desires." In order to get into the skin of her character, Mirza visited the Mumbai chawls, where she met the wives of policemen.

"I wanted to observe their lifestyle. Living in a 4x4 room, compromising and struggling with the harsh realities of life with whatever minimal facilities they have is tough.

And to portray the character I wanted to see it up close." A Maharani College graduate, Shireen, who won the Miss Rajasthan title in 2008 besides other local beauty pageants, always wanted to be an actor.

But entering the film industry was a tough decision. "Being a Muslim, the decision wasn't easy.

I had to struggle a lot, but finally I did it. My family's happy to see me doing what I always wanted to do.

" For now, Mirza wants to focus on serious cinema. "I won't mind doing commercial films but serious cinema has more to offer.

My preference will definitely be films that can exploit my acting talent, rather than bring me short-lived fame," says Mirza, who will also be seen later this year in her first English film, "Not Today", which is directed by Jon Van Dyke and based on human trafficking (less)