Actually, my real name is not Mona. It's Jasmeet. I changed it to Mona when I came to Mumbai.

When I came into the business, things changed a lot, and my life was in a real state of flux.

I grew up in Delhi, where there are no Parsis. But once I came to Mumbai, I realised how quirky Parsis are.

I came to Mumbai in 2000 to do a hotel management course. Following this, I worked as a marketing executive with Hotel Sheraton in Muscat for a year. It was in 2004 that I participated in the Gladrags Mr. India contest and bagged the most popular model award. After that, I did few ramp shows and ads.

TV has gone back to basics, relating to middle class family with real characters, less make-up and simple shots. I feel as an actor it is a delight to work in such shows.

My real name is actually Ivana.