She's turning two in the second week of September. Her birthday preparations are already on in full swing, but Mona Singh is slowly edging out of her Jassi persona. Freed from the braces, spectacles and her restraining contract, Mona is obviously breathing easier. She's planning her career moves, dressing up trendier and trying out different meditation techniques for unwinding.

In an informal chat, Mona talks about being Jassi, Jessica, Neha, Mona and sometimes, trying to be all together...

What do you miss the most about the old Jassi?
I miss being in Gulmohar, being clumsy, looking at Armaan and peeping through the door....

What kind of scars has the two year journey left on you....from being the bespectacled, braces-shackled Jassi to the confident Jessica to the mellow Neha?
I was completely in love with that character, it was so weird. I knew so many girls like Jassi, who can't get jobs because they don't look good. And if you see, Fair & Lovely are the only themes that seem to sell well!
But I wanted to show what was real in the real world - when people are that passionate about their work, they are bound to fumble and stumble!

Talking of the Fair & Lovely kind of theme, would you take up ads like those?
As an actor, I have to sell a product if it comes to me. What I meant is that the mentality of people is such that they would die to look good. You know, whichever award functions I used to go for, there used to be several other actors around, but the minute Jassi arrived, all the photographers and cameramen made a beeline for her. She was the only who carried it off, and she was proud to be what she was. I had got into the character so much, I had completely started believing in it. If I didn't completely believe in it, I would not have been able to carry off 400 episodes!

Was it difficult putting up the facade of actually being a bespectacled Jassi, instead of Mona?

It definitely wasn't easy. My gums would bleed and my lips used to be perpetually cut thanks to the braces. And if they weren't put on right, they would just fall off. And the specs, they were so heavy, I used to worry that I would develop a cleft on my nose! But it had to be done to give the reality touch......you know, once I dodged a journalist's queries about my identity deftly, but at the last minute, he called out Mona! I turned instinctively, but immediately said, "She isn't here today!" I had to keep improvising like that!
But it wasn't smooth sailing always. At last year's Indian Telly Awards, when people loved me dancing on stage, I was dying to say, "Hey, it's me really!" but couldn't! I even asked the channel, "Why can't I go as me?" and I got the answer, "No, till the time you aren't shown that way on screen, you can't."

So, how do you relate to being Neha now?
Neha's very calm and composed, particularly after all that she's been through. I guess the best option for her was to leave Mumbai.......But no, I don't relate to Neha that much, because somewhere she knows that some day, something will happen that will ruin everything again.

Is there also a chance that Raghav Malhotra (Karan Oberoi) may try to win Armaan's place in her heart?
No way. At best, he may become what Purab meant to Jassi, but there will always be only one man in Jassi's life, and that's Armaan.

Was it easy leaving behind the Jassi persona and going in for the makeover?
No, it wasn't easy at all! It was tough - facing the camera for the camera for the first time without my heavy 'chashma'!

With Jassi scheduled to go on for some more months, what's happening with you?
I have signed Bobby Pushkarna's next film, but the script is yet being finalised as is the director. I am not allowed to speak about the character I am playing in it, but all I can say is that it's going to be drastically different from Jassi! And which is exactly what I wanted to do! Not to prove a point, but as an actor. But people have seen me in this garb for two years, and people have started believing that Jassi is me. I want to do something different now, and luckily, I am not one of those who will have to start from scratch in Bollywood! I am already there, and now, I have to just go one step further!

With a foothold in films, will you still look at television as a career option?
I will never quit television. This is the medium that's growing, and people to connect to it as nothing else. I have seen people relating much better to TV stars than to movie stars. I remember when we went to Dubai, people were just going 'Jassi, Jassi, Jassi....' even when there were bigger movie stars around. I dont want to be unapproachable. I want people to come up to me and tell me what they think of me, to touch me, and to talk to me. Because I am here thanks to them. And if I give them attitude, I will be nowhere.

Do you fear that the Jassi aura will wear off after a while?
People's memory is indeed very short. I am quite clear that the day Jassi goes off air, I will be a nobody again. I also know that it is Jassi they love. Like, when my dad was in the army, we had at least 10 servants, but the realisation was always there that after he retired, there would be just one servant. So, you se, I am quite grounded in reality.

Does your clear outlook in life also plan for a marriage and a family of your own in the near future?
I definitely want to get married, but not for the next few years. I am just getting started, and I want to do something bigger than Jassi! Where TV is concerned, though, there cannot be anything bigger than Jassi for me....I have to really plan accordingly and think.

How do you plan to balance Jassi and films?
A I know it will be difficult, because I start shooting in December for the film. I have had a word with my producers, because I shoot every day for Jassi....., and what we talked about was schedules. But if he plans to shoot the movie abroad, I am stuck! I have to really work this out, because a daily soap like this will never have a bank - the script changes nearly daily! No one has been able to work out a solution to this kind of a problem - either you quit this or you give up that! It's not an easy choice. Giving up Jassi....will not be easy, because I have started with this.

Does Sony have any other plans for you, considering you are almost a mascot for the channel?
I don't know about that, but I am definitely a Sony girl. So if they plan to do anything with me, I don't even have to ask them what it is. They have really pampered me for the last two years, which rarely happens for a newcomer. Specially last year, when I was getting threatening calls, Sony really stood by me like I was their daughter, and I can never forget that.

How do you unwind?
It's very important to switch off, earlier I didn't know how to do that....I used to carry the emotions home. Listen to music, go out with people, we go and sit in Baristas or go for a drive before going home....
Now also, I have my parents with me, they have come down from Pune. They realised that maybe I need them at this point... I don't get time to go to the gym, to work out....it's just eat and shoot all the time. So, now I have started getting salads from a dietician called Vrinda Mehta, and that's keeping me fit, and my skin's looking healthier too! I do a lot of breathing exercises and prananyam in the mornings....especially, since my makeup doesn't take that long after the makeover!