IF a producer needed to cast a superwoman character in his next Bollywood film, Lucky Singh would be a shoo-in for the role.
Hours of auditions, dance and an emotive acting performance earned the Glenwood resident a place among the six finalists in SBS series Bollywood Star, a talent-search which will culminate in a film role for the winner.
Asked to perform a real-life scene at the audition, Singh chose her reaction to the Hindu-Sikh riots prompted by the assassination of the Indian prime minister in 1984 — and reduced her audience and the judges to tears.
"I believe in this world there is nothing better than entertaining others. No one can take that acting bug from me."
As an English-as-a-second-language teacher for refugee children at Fairfield Public School and president of a charity organisation with an enduring passion for acting, Mrs Singh is no stranger to balancing different roles.
She juggled study, acting, athletics, debating and was part of a national basketball team while at university in India, before migrating to Australia with her husband and children nine years ago.
It was her son, an actor studying in New York, who encouraged her to enter the show.
"He called me and said 'Mum do you want to apply?' and I said 'Are you crazy Kabir? I'm 47 and you're telling me to apply for that? No way!'. He said 'You always told me that was your childhood dream. Please can you apply.' So I did.
"My husband, when we got married, he saw that I was passionate about these things and he supported me. Lots of opportunities were coming my way and I was accepting all of those — I did two telefilms on national TV, documentary, commercials."
The final episode of Bollywood Star airs on June 23.