Elnaaz Norouzi, a German national of Iranian descent, made her Pakistani debut with film Maan Jao Naa. She is a sensation across the border. She has not just walked the ramp for major brands like Dior and Hugo Boss, but also worked with the Khans of Bollywood – Salman and Shah Rukh – in top ad campaigns. The Iranian beauty gets up close and candid during a short interview with MAG. Here are 60 seconds from her life. Excerpts:

How would you define yourself?

I’m sort of an introvert; a private person, and not very expressive.

How did acting come about?

I was 14 when I started modelling, I started working with photographers, talking pictures, reading a lot about modelling. Then one thing lead to another.

Let’s talk about family, who are you the closest to?

Mom and dad. I can’t pick one, I am close to both. There are things I can share with my dad that I can’t share with my mom, and things I can share with my mom I can’t even think of sharing with my dad. They are both my best friends.

Would you consider yourself lucky or hardworking?

I don’t believe in luck as such, I think I’m really hardworking. When I look back to the things I have done in life, how hard I had to work to get here, I really think I was not lucky.

Having worked with the Bollywood Khans, who’s your favourite among the Khans?

Salman is a very humble person, when you work with him, you don’t even feel you are working with a star, but Shah Rukh was the one I wanted to go to Bollywood for, and although he was my favourite back then, I must say my all-time favourite is Salman.

Your favourite co-star from Pakistan?

All of them. My co-actors have been wonderful, which is something you don’t often see because mostly you can feel that silent friction from the other female actors, which I didn’t experience here at all,

How do you maintain a balance between your public and private life?

This is an actor’s life, you either choose your career or you choose your private life, there’s nothing in between.

You’ve worked in Mumbai as well as in Karachi, have you felt any difference between the two capitals?

Karachi is way cleaner! [laughs]