Is it her sweet, melodious almost childlike voice the reason that Barbie's chosen her as its face in India? Or is it her cute just -turned 19 looks? Akriti Kakar, the Aquarian teenager, isn't just doing her shows on ETC, she's also busy cutting her new album and acting in the new Barbie video. How does she get the time for all this, in between college hours? Chikiita Kukreja finds out. How did you land up in Mumbai? I shifted to Mumbai from Delhi with my folks after finishing my 12th. Currently, I am completing graduation via correspondence from Delhi University and right now, I am waiting for my first year results. When did you decide to make music your career? I have been singing since I was five.... my earliest training came from my mother, herself a trained singer. Later, I took classes from Shri Byomkesh Bannerjee in Delhi. I have also done several shows with Kalyanji uncle and Anandji uncle all over India. I have participated in many stage shows right since childhood. What are you doing right now? I am working for my next album, called 9-teen, which has no remixes at all! I am also doing al lot of playback singing these days. And of course, my shows ETC Nautanki, Top 9 and SMS 7575- Show MY Song go hand in hand. I even star in the first ever music video of Barbie Hope has Wings to promote the release of the movie Barbie and The Magic of Pegasus. Have you ever done music videos earlier? My first ever first screen appearance was in Baby doll's Rangeela Ray with HMV. Then I did my own album called A-TEEN, because I had just turned 18 in February last year, in which A stood for Akriti and TEEN stood for teenagers. The album had 10 remixes but I appeared in just one video, Jal Bin Machli. I also did Cham Say in Dus. How is it working as an anchor? Working with ETC is real fun. My co-host makes me feel so comfortable and relaxed. ETC was a big break for me! It was the first show for me, but I didn't ever feel nervous. How did you bag the Barbie in India contract? HMV was releasing its video track "Hope has wings", for which they needed a young and bubbly face and maybe they thought I would fit in best! They wanted a Barbie like face which I supposed resembled mine, and as I had earlier worked with HMV, I and Tej (my manager) decided to take this up. How do you unwind between doing so many things at the same time? I don't get tired working (giggles). And this is because I love what I am doing. The only thing that really exhausts me is traveling. I can't do that ever, it's not my cup of tea! What are your future plans? I don't know what's coming up next. But yes, I have a lot in stock. With my album 9-TEEN, I have a lot of work to be done.