Remember her? She, of the flaming red halter, igniting screens and hoardings across the country, pertly exhorting mesmerised millions to sink their teeth into Britannia’s buttery teatime treat. Vidya Malavade, the ‘Maska Chaska’ girl, recently turned in an appreciably noticed performance as the spunky elder sis, protecting psycho hero-obsessed Nauheed Cyrusi in Vikram Bhatt’s Inteha. Little matter if the film deserved its dud fate, Vidya proved elegantly engaging in her new actress avatar, a mature mix of those fine-boned features emoting all too naturally for a debutante.

No novice before the camera, though, the flight attendant with Lufthansa and KLM was wooed by model coordinators for Videocon, Anne French and cola commercials, apart from the biscuit ad, winning her instant recognition. With ad guru Prahlad Kakkar encouragingly posing the question, "Don’t you want to move on?" in her stewardess days, Vidya seems here to stay in the film industry.

Scuba-diving and dancing are abiding passions, nimble feet even trained seven formative years in Kathak. "I don’t drink or smoke, but you’ll almost never see me off a dance floor." she laughs. "It’s the ultimate stress buster." Tragedy beyond stress Vidya’s experienced, losing the husband she shared "really the most beautiful relationship" with, two years ago. The pain appears to have shaped her brand of philosophy: "I count each day as a bonus. It’s so important. Life is about living your dreams…."