EXCLUSIVE: “I don't think there is any actor who has tried the approach I have done for Chhorii”- Nushrratt Bharuccha opens up about her acting process

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Nushrratt Bharuccha has been a part of the industry for over a decade now. While she stepped into the Hindi film industry with the film Love Sex Aur Dhokha, it was the 2011 film Pyaar Ka Punchnama that put her on the radar. In the recent past, she has further proved her mettle as an actor with her performance in films like Dream Girl, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Chhalaang and the recent Netflix anthology Ajeeb Daastaans. She has received rave reviews for her performance as a househelp in the film titled Khilauna. After the release of the fim, Nushrratt Bharuccha spoke to Bollywood Hungama about her process and how she has created a niche for herself despite not having a formal acting training or having any film connections.

One common trait that has been noticed across all characters of Nushrratt is the striking confidence in them. When asked if it is by design or a coincidence, she says, “I don't know if it's by design. Nobody ever told me whether it should be played with confidence or not. Two people including you have told me this. But, it is not by design. If there is a character and they say she has to be very under confident, meek and timid then maybe I'll approach it and do it like that.”

“But as for Meenal (Her character in Ajeeb Daastaans), her fighting spirit was against all odds and that was in the writing itself. She wouldn’t have been able to say and do what she has done if she wasn’t confident. So, I think it is by default and not by design,” she added.

For Ajeeb Daastaans, Nushrratt observed her house help to play her character Meenal. When  asked if she prefers method acting while approaching a character, Nushrratt says, “I do not know what exactly is method acting. I have neither done any acting course or read any book on it. I feel that every artist has their own way of expressing and being an artist. I can speak for myself. When I get a script, I read it again and again and try to wrack my brain to understand who this lady is. I ask questions like ‘Why does she say the things she says ?, Where does she come from?’ I give the character a reality. I don't look at her as a fictional character. I hunt for the roots to reality of the character.  I wonder where I can find such a person if it is written to reflect a real person. There is a difference; in Pyaar Ka Punchnama, there was a suspension of disbelief. Those characters were made a little caricaturish, but I have to still keep them real because they are comedy films. In comedy, you need to be a little over for that effect to come across. My approach to basically any character is to get it right by making that character real.”

“For Chhorii , I have on my own, found a whole new way to be Chhorii which I will tell you later. But even my director was like are you sure you want to take this approach and I am like, ‘Sir, it's a thought that has come to me. Maybe I'll fail, maybe I'll succeed. I don't know, let's try it.’ So he trusted me and I tried a whole new approach in Chhorii , for me to get that role and film right. But I don't think there is really any actor who has done that, not to my knowledge, which I will tell you when I am doing promotions for that. But I find different ways of doing it and that's what keeps me engaged. That is the most challenging and exciting part of me being an actor,” she said. Chhorii is an upcoming horror film directed by Vishal Furia.

Further talking about what she looks for before signing a film, Nushrratt said, “There are 2-3  things that work for me and I do a film for. One- How excited are the makers of the film to work with me! I need to be really excited to work with the director as they are to me. Similarly the whole team, I feel we all need to be able to have fun doing the project. Two - When a film comes my way, I listen to it like an audience. I would do a film if I would enjoy watching it in a theatre. Then, I do not think about things like what my role is, whether I will be typecast, or how I will look in it. I have never been able to think of it. I remember people asking me would you do a Pyaar Ka Punchnama 3. Of course, why would I not? It is my film. It’s my space. Why should I leave that space. Just because I am afraid of getting typecasted? No. I think I am confident enough as an actor to know that I can do other things when people give it to me. I will do it. They will know that I am not afraid of being typecast. I enjoy doing those roles . I genuinely do and I will continue doing them.”

ALSO READ: The greed of portraying a challenging character attracts me to a film: Nushrratt Bharuccha