Nimrat Kaur talked about having multiple breakdowns when she first came to Mumbai.
Nimrat Kaur. Image sourced from mid-day archives
Nimrat Kaur, who is best known for her roles in The Lunchbox and Airlift, made her debut in the Hindi Film Industry with Peddlers in 2012, produced by Anurag Kashyap. The actress has seen a lot of ups and downs in her life. In a recent interview, Kaur spoke about her journey in the entertainment industry.
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Nimrat revealed that had 'multiple breakdowns' when she first came to Mumbai. She added that there were days that she would feel lost and would call her mother and 'cry for hours'. Speaking to Pinkvilla, she said, "There were multiple breakdowns. I had saved up a bit of money from a few odd jobs I did back in Delhi. So it saw me through the first six-seven months. What happened was that I got some photographs but you just don't know where to go, what to do. Where do you even start?"
The actress, who started her career with Kumar Sanu's Tera Mera Pyar music video, revealed that she would look up the names of production houses and agencies online. "I figured that inko jaake photographs de dete hai aur dekhte hai ki kya hota hai (let me give my photographs to them and see what happens). I gave my pictures to hundreds of agencies and banners; I would go physically. I marked out areas, travelled by trains or buses and autos. I couldn't afford cabs at that time. Everything was so expensive. Mobile phones, calls were so costly. So I used to go to a PCO and call mom, cry for hours and be so sad about things. It was pretty daunting and scary," she added.
She adds that the criticism would usually be about her appearance. "Sometimes, they would say you don't look Indian, you look too urban and modern. You don't look homely at all. We needed someone more homely looking. Then, when I did The Lunchbox, everything just changed. Clearly, that taught me one thing: that what people think you can or cannot do is their limitation and not yours. I was told by my international agency that I was roped in for Homeland in an ISI agent's role because of my performance as Ila in Lunchbox. So you see, not everyone thinks that way or boxes you in a particular way."
On the work front, Nimrat will be soon seen in the second season of The Test Case. In the web series, Nimrat plays the role of Captain Shikha Sharma. Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor and Vinay Waikul, the series follows the first woman in a combat role in the army, who aims to serve the nation by excelling in the male-dominated military spectrum. The show also stars Juhi Chawla, Atul Kulkarni, Rahul Dev, and Anup Soni among others.
The second season will take the viewers to Kashmir where Nimrat will relentlessly search for a man whom she has to hunt, or else she will not be able to gain appreciation. It is a story of belief, loyalty, espionage, and guerrilla warfare. Produced by the Juggernaut Productions and written by Sagar Pandya, the filming for The Test Case 2 will soon begin!
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