She hails from Shillong and was not exposed to Hindi films. Like her famous musician father Rudy Wallang, she took to singing. Now, as she paints everything Pink along with Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and superstar Amitabh Bachchan, new entrant Andrea Tariang says that she “never imagined acting in a Bollywood film”.

The singer and model-turned-actress went to audition for her role in Pink and got the opportunity to debut in Bollywood with megastar Bachchan. Asked about her experience of sharing the screen space with the celebrated actor, Andrea said, “The experience we (Taapsee and Kirti) had working with Mr Bachchan is something we will not forget. He made sure we were always comfortable during the entire shoot.”

The film, produced by Rashmi Sharma and filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, opened to rave reviews and audiences also gave it the thumbs-up. Dealing with the issue of the societal attitude towards women at large across the country and the choices that they make, debutant director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury draws the point quite clearly in Pink.

Well, it was not surprising to hear Taapsee reveal that she was a victim of eve-teasing as it is common in Indian cities. Andrea also said, “I think every woman has been through some sort of eve teasing and everything that happened in the film became a part of us during the shoot and being myself made it much easier.” In the film, she portrays herself, hailing from Meghalaya.

Did looks prove to be a hindrance in mainstream cinema for actresses hailing from North-east India? “I don’t think looks prove a hindrance at all. We may look a little different but that shouldn’t stop us. Language may be a little bit of a problem but that can be learnt,” Andrea said confidently.

Before turning to mainstream acting, music being the trademark of the family, the Shillong-based artiste has been performing with the band Lavender Groove and often teams up with well-known keyboardist Karan Joseph. Many actresses, including Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha and Shraddha Kapoor, have sung in their films and Andrea is also willing to toe the line. “I’m not restricting myself to one thing (acting or singing), I can do both. If I get the chance to do both, I would be open to it!” the multi-talented actress quipped.

As she makes her way beautifully into the big world, seeming to find herself, Andrea relies on her family for both inspiration and support. “My family is my inspiration! They have given me all the support and love throughout. I couldn’t have done it without them,” the actress, who has appeared in magazines like Vogue, said. “For now, I’m just letting all the excitement sink in. I’m going to continue working on my music and like I said, if there are more such opportunities for me I’ll take it,” Andrea added on a high note.