Celina Jaitly wants to ‘return to cinema’, but isn’t getting good offers: ‘I hope to find scripts that do me justice’

Celina Jaitly was last seen in Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s short film Season’s Greetings that was released in 2020. The actor was praised for her role in the Zee5 film that also featured Lillette Dubey. Celina, who celebrated her birthday on November 24, spoke about wanting to return to Bollywood in a new interview. Also read: Celina Jaitly recalls modelling days with Rimmi Sen, says ‘while others went to play after school, we worked’

Celina, who now lives in Austria with her husband Peter Haag and their children, said she felt encouraged to ‘return to cinema’ after the success of Seasons Greetings. Last year, Celine Jaitly was honoured with her first Filmfare Award at the Filmfare (Middle East) Star Achievers Awards Night in Dubai; she had won an award for the ‘best performance in a short film’.

Speaking about her Bollywood comeback plans, Celina told ETimes, “The success of my short film Seasons Greetings even amidst the Covid-19 lockdown has encouraged me to return to cinema. I never imagined winning a Filmfare award and international accolades at so many international film festivals as I did with Seasons Greetings.”

Celina, who turned 41 on Thursday, said she wanted to act in comedies or work in love stories, and was looking to find scripts that do her justice. In the same interview, Celina said, “The only issue is there are not enough scripts that are unique and unusual just like Season’s Greetings – A Tribute To Rituparno Ghosh. Crime and violence dominate most scripts and I want to make people laugh with genuine and memorable comedies or make their hearts beat with love stories that remain embedded in the audiences hearts and soul. I hope to find scripts that do me justice.”

In a 2021 interview to Hindustan Times, Celina had recalled her journey in films after winning a beauty pageant. She had said, “By 40 I have proudly achieved so much. I became a supermodel at age of 15, went on to win Miss India, Miss Universe runners up at 19, was launched by the great Feroz Khan in films, done some fabulous films, become a UN Goodwill ambassador, fought for LGBTA equality, won international awards, married an Austrian (Peter Haag), gave birth to two sets of twins and I won a best performance award just two weeks before I turn 40. It’s a great legacy to look back at and amazing motivation towards what the future holds.”

Celina started her film career in 2003 with her debut film Janasheen, opposite Fardeen Khan. Before entering the film industry, she had won the Miss India title in 2001, and was also among the finalists at Miss Universe 2001.

Celina had tied the knot with hotelier Peter Haag and the two welcomed their first set of twins, Winston and Viraaj, in 2012. Celina again gave birth to twin boys, Shamsher and Arthur, in 2017, but the former could not survive, and died due to ‘a serious heart condition’.