Rita Ahuja

Rita Ahuja, BackStage.com's second Great American Headshot/Resume Winner boasts an impressive resume.An L.A. native, Ahuja became interested in acting as a child, but never considered it a career choice.Influenced by family expectations and cultural demands, Ahuja attempted to secure a more practical future, and entered college as a pre-med student.But like many artists, Ahuja's need to perform continued to emerge and has since sent her on a journey around the globe.

As a child, Ahuja studied ballet and classical Indian form.She tried out for plays in high school, but never made the cut."That initial rejection was what first sparked my interest," said Ahuja."It made me want it even more."She enrolled in UCLA as a pre-med student and continued to take dance and theatre classes.Ahuja was dissatisfied with her pre-med classes, switched to economics, and eventually design.Finally, she made the realization that acting was her passion."I've always been interested in the performing arts.I think it was just a matter of getting the courage.I finally realized that if I don't do what I love, I'm going to be a very unhappy person." The hard part, was explaining the passion to her parents."My family didn't mind so much that I didn't want to be a doctor," said Ahuja, "they minded more that I wanted to be an actor.In the Indian American community, it's a new phenomenon.There's not really an Indian American actor out there right now that the community can identify with.They had no one to look to.It's a stray from the norm."

After Ahuja graduated from college with a degree in dance, she decided to move to Bombay, India to pursue her career."I didn't think there was a market for me as a young actress in the U.S.I went to India because I felt like I would have a better chance to get work."Ahuja continued training, as well as dancing and acting professionally.She worked extensively with The Actor's Playhouse in Bombay, landed commercial work and several independent films.Still, the acting scene in India was more difficult than Ahuja expected.She said, "It's very competitive there.In the U.S. you have a lot of different ethnicities and types.In India, everyone essentially has the same basic look, you have to do even more to stand out."

She continued to train heavily and gained new perspective from the vastly different techniques."The training in India is different," she said."You really have to focus a lot on dance.
...
After two years in India, Ahuja felt that she was ready to return to L.A.She saw Indian American directors like M. Night Shyamalan and Mira Nair taking off in the U.S. and she felt her the opportunity for her return was right.Now in Los Angeles for the past two years, Ahuja has had greater success than she could even imagine.She said, "I've gotten a great response so far- much better than I was in India which is ironic, I would have thought it would be the other way around."

Ahuja landed an agent immediately upon her return to L.A., but recently signed with The Bonnie Black Agency.
...
Ahuja had been a Back Stage West subscriber for some time, but switched over to BackStage.com several months ago."I like it because I can read it wherever I am, and I don't have to wait for the paper."She has just recently begun using the headshot database to send out her resume."It's great.I emailed my link to a director and I got a response right away.It's so much cheaper and easier."

Ahuja persistently sends her headshot out to notices she sees in BackStage.com every week."I send out a ton of resumes," she said."This week, I sent out to 30 notices--but sometimes it's 10.Now that I have my headshot online, it's even easier."

The diligence pays off-- Ahuja says she's called in for auditions from resume's she's sent out through BackStage.com at least two or three times a week

Recently, Ahuja landed a lead role in the independent feature film Tech Rally, which begins shooting in July.She also stars in The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute from late June through early June and will be working on another short film later this month.She continues to take classes at the Strasberg Institute and is writing a screenplay with her brother.

For Ahuja, her ultimate goal is to land a role that defies cultural boundaries.She said, "For me, the most gratifying, most fulfilling moment will emerge when I find that audiences around the world, begin to view individuals such as myself, simply as artists or performers--without perceiving us as the Indo-American or African-American actor.There's a huge community of us out here, an intelligent community of actors who would like to represent, not only the Indian American community, but also as an American actor.We all bring different experiences into this medium--and that's what we need, that's what art thrives on.I hope that we can break down stereotypes in our lifetime.I hope that we can have a greater awareness out there, and more faces representing America as a whole.As a performer I hope to share my background and my experiences with the world."

Rita Ahuja, BackStage.com's second Great American Headshot/Resume Winner boasts an impressive resume.An L.A. native, Ahuja became interested in acting as a child, but never considered it a career choice.Influenced by family expectations and cultural demands, Ahuja attempted to secure a more practical future, and entered college as a pre-med student.But like many artists, Ahuja's need to perform continued to emerge and has since sent her on a journey around the globe.

As a child, Ahuja studied ballet and classical Indian form.She tried out for plays in high school, but never made the cut."That initial rejection was what first sparked my interest," said Ahuja."It made me want it even more."She enrolled in UCLA as a pre-med student and continued to take dance and theatre classes.Ahuja was dissatisfied with her pre-med classes, switched to economics, and eventually design.Finally, she made the realization that acting was her passion."I've always been interested in the performing arts.I think it was just a matter of getting the courage.I finally realized that if I don't do what I love, I'm going to be a very unhappy person." The hard part, was explaining the passion to her parents."My family didn't mind so much that I didn't want to be a doctor," said Ahuja, "they minded more that I wanted to be an actor.In the Indian American community, it's a new phenomenon.There's not really an Indian American actor out there right now that the community can identify with.They had no one to look to.It's a stray from the norm."

After Ahuja graduated from college with a degree in dance, she decided to move to Bombay, India to pursue her career."I didn't think there was a market for me as a young actress in the U.S.I went to India because I felt like I would have a better chance to get work."Ahuja continued training, as well as dancing and acting professionally.She worked extensively with The Actor's Playhouse in Bombay, landed commercial work and several independent films.Still, the acting scene in India was more difficult than Ahuja expected.She said, "It's very competitive there.In the U.S. you have a lot of different ethnicities and types.In India, everyone essentially has the same basic look, you have to do even more to stand out."

She continued to train heavily and gained new perspective from the vastly different techniques."The training in India is different," she said."You really have to focus a lot on dance.
...
After two years in India, Ahuja felt that she was ready to return to L.A.She saw Indian American directors like M. Night Shyamalan and Mira Nair taking off in the U.S. and she felt her the opportunity for her return was right.Now in Los Angeles for the past two years, Ahuja has had greater success than she could even imagine.She said, "I've gotten a great response so far- much better than I was in India which is ironic, I would have thought it would be the other way around."

Ahuja landed an agent immediately upon her return to L.A., but recently signed with The Bonnie Black Agency.She has been studying at the Lee Strasburg Institute and landed roles in several independent shorts and student films.

Ahuja had been a Back Stage West subscriber for some time, but switched over to BackStage.com several months ago."I like it because I can read it wherever I am, and I don't have to wait for the paper."She has just recently begun using the headshot database to send out her resume."It's great.I emailed my link to a director and I got a response right away.It's so much cheaper and easier."

Ahuja persistently sends her headshot out to notices she sees in BackStage.com every week."I send out a ton of resumes," she said."This week, I sent out to 30 notices--but sometimes it's 10.Now that I have my headshot online, it's even easier."

The diligence pays off-- Ahuja says she's called in for auditions from resume's she's sent out through BackStage.com at least two or three times a week

Recently, Ahuja landed a lead role in the independent feature film Tech Rally, which begins shooting in July.She also stars in The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute from late June through early June and will be working on another short film later this month.She continues to take classes at the Strasberg Institute and is writing a screenplay with her brother.

For Ahuja, her ultimate goal is to land a role that defies cultural boundaries.She said, "For me, the most gratifying, most fulfilling moment will emerge when I find that audiences around the world, begin to view individuals such as myself, simply as artists or performers--without perceiving us as the Indo-American or African-American actor.There's a huge community of us out here, an intelligent community of actors who would like to represent, not only the Indian American community, but also as an American actor.We all bring different experiences into this medium--and that's what we need, that's what art thrives on.I hope that we can break down stereotypes in our lifetime.I hope that we can have a greater awareness out there, and more faces representing America as a whole.As a performer I hope to share my background and my experiences with the world."