Blessing in disguise: ‘Class’ actress Ayesha Kanga recounts being fired as designer

Mumbai March 9 Actress Ayesha Kanga, who is currently basking in the success of her recently released streaming show ‘Class’, is thrilled with the announcement of the show’s season 2.

The actress, a design professional and an alumnus of the National Institute of Design (NID), would have worked throughout her life as a graphic designer but future had other plans for her as she got fired from her job and started looking out for modelling opportunities, given her proximity to the fashion world.

Walking down the memory lane, she said, “I have always wanted to be an artiste, getting into NID was my biggest goal and after I got in, I studied graphic design, and I thought I would do that my entire life. Then one day I got fired from my job and I happened to look elsewhere which is when modelling came by. I have always been interested in fashion, I would follow fashion brands and Indian models very closely from a young age. I even noticed a tilt in Indian campaigns as to how brown women were considered a lot more than just white faces”.

She further mentioned, “We stopped using quintessential faces in high end fashion campaigns and I was interested in being a part of that. I would, in fact, creatively direct campaigns, style my own shoots, and loved doing my own hair and makeup- all because I enjoyed image making and wanted to be a part of these creative processes. It was a fulfilling journey..

‘Class’ is an adaptation of the Spanish series ‘Elite’ created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona.

Lauding the director of ‘Class’ – Ashim Ahluwalia, the actress said, “Ashim is an evil genius, he has such a profound understanding of what he wants things to look and feel like. Everyone has to surrender to his vision and they don’t even mind because it’s stunning”.

“There is always a conflict between art and commerce but his work is such a good indication that art will always persevere. Working with him was great, he really knows how to get performance out of newcomers. The show exists because he did, we exist on the show because of him. I respect him immensely and it would be a dream to work with him again in any capacity”, she concluded.