Madan promotes her film Surkhaab in India.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: It has been three years since Barkha Madan, the once popular Bollywood diva who played a ghost in the movie “Bhoot” decided to become a Buddhist nun and adopted the name Gyalten Samsen.
Interestingly, 18 months after her film “Surkhaab” received numerous awards, the movie is all set to release in India.
Surkhaab received awards in the US and Canada, in 2012. Madan played the role of a judo gold medallist in the movie which told the story of illegal immigrants and human trafficking.
The movie, shot in Punjab and Toronto had very few crew members. Madan was also a producer, female lead and tea supplier, as she revealed. Even as she is engrossed in her service to the society as a nun, Madan said she would promote her movie in India.
Madan, who was a Miss India finalist of 1984, made her debut in Bollywood in 1996 through the movie “Khiladiyon Ke Khiladi”. She also played lead role in the Indo-Dutch movie Driving Miss Palmen, only to disappear till the release of “Bhoot” in 2003.
According to reports, Madan got captivated by Dalai Lama’s charm in 2002 and took the decision to follow Buddhism. To fulfil her wish to serve the society she moved to a Kathmandu monastery in 2012 where she became a nun with the supported by her parents.
It was only after Madan completed two film projects “SochLo” and “Surkhaab” that she decided to quit her normal life. She currently spends majority of her time working for the kids and the rest of the time she meditates.