`City Lights` depicts the story of modern India: Patralekhaa

New Delhi: Her father wanted Patralekhaa to become a chartered accountant like him but the newcomer, who is making her Bollywood debut with Hansal Mehta`s `City Lights`, had set her eyes firmly on acting.

However, getting the dream debut was not easy for Patralekhaa, who hails from a middle-class Bengali family. "The journey was really very difficult for me. Coming from a middle-class Bengali family, you are expected to study and do well in academics. My father is a CA and he wanted me to be like him, but my dreams were somewhat different," Patralekhaa said. She was born and brought up in Shillong and shifted to Assam for her high school before finally coming to the city of dreams. "I shifted to Mumbai to complete my graduation. It was this city which made me realise what I was made for. I started going for workshops, joined acting classes and also started giving auditions," she said. Patralekhaa is playing the role of a woman from a Rajasthani village opposite Rajkumar Rao in `City Lights`, which is the official adaptation of British film `Metro Manila`. When asked about her experience, she said, "I don`t feel the role was difficult for me. The film is about a common man, and I am no different. However, there were challenges. Rajasthan was completely new for me, so had to do a lot to groom myself. "We actually stayed in Rajasthan for three weeks, and interacted with people there, learnt how they live, how they talk and how they eat. I fell in love with `dal bati churma`."