Grazia’s Celebrity Make Up Artist, Kaniz Ali, interviews our cover star - Deana Uppal. In this fun cover story, we get to know this beautiful woman!
Creative Direction – Kaniz Ali
Photography – Aperture Photography
www.aperture-photography.co.uk
Outfits/Wardrobe – OOTN.Official
www.outfitofthenight.co.uk
Hair/MakeUp/Styling: Kaniz Ali
Instagram @kanizali
Jewellery – Heritage Jewels
Shoes: Gucci
www.gucci.com
Location: London, UK
Grazia: Your career in the limelight started by winning a beauty pageant and going into reality shows such as “Celebrity Big Brother” and “Fear Factor”. How did you progress into acting?
Deana: The TV shows I was a part of brought a lot of spotlight and fame into my life, so from there I was offered to act in films. I went into acting for the experience, but I never felt happy in the acting industry. After my last film I made the decision to follow my heart and to leave acting and concentrate on producing and directing, where I felt my talent and skill would come to a greater use.
Grazia: What are the pros and cons of the acting industry?
Deana: There is a huge amount of competition and a lot of nepotism in the industry. During the struggling period, when I was looking for roles there were times when I knew I was going to be making very little money. However, I believe that once you are successful in the line, the fame that comes along with acting can enable you to have power to positively influence others and help people on a bigger platform.
Grazia: You are also an entrepreneur, talk to us about your businesses.
Deana: I have a number of businesses from hair transplant clinics in India, property development in the UK as well as a film production company which produces and distributes content. I feel it’s important to always evolve your work with the time and I try to generate as many sources of income as possible. This does mean I am working long hours, but I do enjoy everything I do so it doesn’t feel like work.
Grazia: What made you go onto becoming a film director and a producer?
Deana: There were many times on set when I was in front of the camera where I used to think to myself – “I know if I was the director, I could improve this scene” so from those thoughts I took the big leap to study Film direction at London Film Academy. I went on to direct music videos and realised another strength of mine was coordination and budgeting, so I took another leap and went on to executive produce films and produce my own documentary.
Grazia: You have recently directed and produced a documentary called “India’s Forgotten People”. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Deana: It is my first documentary with my own production house. It is an investigative documentary discovering the lives of a nomadic community. I lived with the community for 8 months and managed to capture their unique lifestyle on camera. The film has now been shown worldwide on channels such as ‘Discovery Channel’, ‘Oculus’ and will be coming on ‘Netflix’ soon.
Grazia: Describe a day in Deana’s Uppal’s world.
Deana: Honestly no 2 days are ever the same, I travel weekly and live spontaneously.
Grazia: What are your top 3 beauty products that you can’t live without?
Deana: Facial oil, face wash and hair oil.
Grazia: What’s the best advice you can give to anyone who is thinking of entering the entertainment world?
Deana: I would highly suggest they do their research first into the industry. You must be brutally honest with yourself about your talents and what you really want out of life. Once you are sure then be confident and work hard to reach your goals.
Grazia: Name your top 3 holiday destinations in the world?
Deana: For me out of the places I have visited already, I would say Maldives, Greece and Cape town are my top 3 favourites.
Grazia: What do the next two years have in store for Deana Uppal?
Deana: I will be concentrating on expanding my charity – DKU Kindness Diaries Trust and creating more documentaries.
I am also currently working on getting a script I have written for a feature film. My aim is to have it produced into a film.
