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Already an accomplished singer, songwriter and actress, David squeezed in a jam-packed trip to Toronto recently- between recording her debut album (Me Versus Me) in India and an upcoming appearance at the UK Asian Music Awards in London - to spend time with family and do a round of publicity for several of her upcoming movie releases.

HOMECOMING SURPRISE

Her cover girl status with North America's leading South Asian magazine was a pleasant homecoming surprise, David said. "Anokhi has always been a great support for me and my career," she said. "But when they told me I was on the cover, it was amazing. I couldn't have wished for better."

Raj Girn, publisher of Anokhi Magazine, said the choice of David was a natural one. "She's been a multi-talented singer, songwriter and actress for a decade now and she's finally getting the recognition she deserves," Girn said. "And every anniversary issue we try to promote someone we feel is going to make it big in the coming year...she is one of the most promising musical talents around, and yet she's so down to earth."

David's grounding is a tribute to her parents who encouraged both her and her sister to go after their dreams, while instilling the importance of a solid education.

It was while reading the newspaper with her dad one Sunday morning that David saw her first opportunity to seize upon stardom. "I always scrambled for the comics and that week there was this big ad - basically a cattle call - looking for children to audition for Bill Cosby's Jell-O commercial," she said. "As a kid I always knew I wanted to be a singer and actor.J came from a normal family, with no big show business connections at all, but my parents always urged us to take initiative in whatever it was that we wanted to do - so I called and I got the job."

More commercial work, singing and acting lessons followed, until at age 17 David won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, then on to London, England where she secured music management.

These days David remains predominantly London-based, but said she travels the triangle between there, Los Angeles and Etobicoke on a fairly regular basis - unless she's on-location filming in the middle of a South African desert, that is. Such was the case with the Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian - billed as the "thrilling prequel" to the 2002 action blockbuster that starred Dwayne The Rock" Johnson - which wrapped shooting in Cape Town late last year. In the film, which is slated for DVD release in August, she plays the female lead Layla.

From the desert to the movie studio, David's next project to be released is the Colour of Magic, a TV movie based on a fantasy book of the same name by Terry Pratchett and starring Sean Astin of Lord of the Rings fame. "I play the dragonlady, so I spent a lot of time flying through the air in front of a CGI screen," she said with a laugh.

David flies back to London this week for Colour's premiere on March 3, followed shortly after by an appearance at the UK Asian Music Awards on March 6, where she's up for Best Female Act and Best New Act.

It's a juggling act between her music and movie careers, she said, "but I love both and I was trained in both. I think they feed each other creatively - my songs are sometimes like glorified monologues anyway."

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Etobicoke Gaurdian - Canada