Sumeet Mishra | mumbai@bollywoodtown.in
Nushrat Bharucha is the latest glittering addition to Bollywood’s gem collection. Beauty may just be skin deep, but talent runs to the bone for this actress. As talented, as she is beautiful, Nushrat has been winning praises from critics and audiences alike for the diversity of her roles and the ease with which she is able to slip into any of her characters. From playing the docile and submissive girl who loses her life to honour killing in Dihakar Bannerji’s Love, Sex aur Dhoka to the cunning and manipulative girlfriend in Luv Ranjan’s Pyaar ka Punchnama, Nushrat has come a long way in her career. Working with some very fine co-actors and directors has helped her refine her craft and improve her performance in each successive project by leaps and bounds. No more a diamond in the rough, this brilliant star talks to us about her journey..
You have now done 3 movies with Kartik, so is it some audience winning strategy or some lucky mascot notion?
Hahaha… I don’t know.. I guess our director Luv Ranjan likes to see us together on screen. But I think we have a great chemistry and the most important thing is that people have loved us as a couple in our previous movies and that’s the final decision maker!
Do you agree that women are that bad in real life like the characters of ‘Pyaar Ka Puchnama 2’?
Umm.. this is a tricky one because I can’t exclude myself from this answer as much as I would like to! But just like the makers of PKP are generalising by saying “saari ladkiya aisi hi hoti hai”, I would also generalise when I say “ladkiya aisi nahi hoti.” Toh iska koi sahi galat jawab ho nahi sakta.. There are girls who have come and told me that they relate to this film and that at some point they have behaved like that.. and some girls who have said “aisa toh koi nahi karta”… toh I will leave this answer open ended.
How different will ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2’ be from the previous one?
The story is completely different from the first part, there are 6 new characters this time even though some of the actors are the same, they are essaying new stories in PKP 2. The one main change this time is that the second half is not drama heavy. It is more of a ‘light hearted heart break’. Characters ka toh dil toot raha hai.. aur woh dukhi hai.. but audience phir bhi haasegi, that’s how its treated this time.
Sequels generally dont do as well as the first part.. you think PKP 2 will be able to surpass the first part?
I don’t agree that sequels don’work, but at the same time I do think that sequels that come quickly one after the other, lose their charm. Our sequel is coming out 4 years after the first part and this will work as an advantage for us. The four year gap has created a strong ‘demand’ for a part two. Audiences remember how they felt and what they experienced when they saw the first part. And they want the same fun experience again which we will give them with new characters and new stories, without having to worry about the parallels being drawn from the first part. Also, the gap has given us time to pack powerful punch!
Do you feel that people have started expecting more from you after ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama”?
I expect more from me after every film, every role. That’s the only way I know how to grow. Right from Love, Sex Aur Dhokha, its been my constant endeavor to find different content and different kind of characters to essay. To do work according to what an audience expects is what super stars like Salman, Shahrukh, Aamir can do, because they have a huge audience. I am just starting off, the day I can do that too, I will consider myself a super star.
These days ‘abuses’ are used commonly in films, do you ever abuse in real life?
Everyone abuses in real life. Sometimes to vent out frustration, sometimes between friends. See, abuses are not always used literally and that’s what needs to be considered. Like in our film PKP2, the three boys live together and they have been friends since college so when they abuse amongst themselves, its more a way of talking without any literal meaning to the abuses. They don’t abuse in anyone else’s company. I think the whole thing needs to be seen in the context of where and how one is abusing.
What’s after PKP 2?
I really want to go on a holiday.. either climbing up a mountain or deep sea diving but amidst nature for sure. That’s what I intend on seriously planning post film release.
You have a very soothing voice, does it ever incline you to try singing in any one of your movies?
Hahaha! I have been told by my music director that I am tone deaf! So I definitely cannot sing, ever! But I am a very musically inclined person.. I cannot function without my playlist which has everything from Air’s Moon Safari to Beyonce’s Haunted. I sing only and only to myself!
You have worked in television industry earlier, so is there a possibility of you to be seen there again someday?
Since I have done television before, I know exactly what I would and would not do. There are some interesting shows that have come up in the recent past so I believe TV is evolving. If something completely grabs my attention or fancy I would definitely consider being a part of it.
Different actors have different ways to stay fit, what’s yours?
Fitness is not just a physical attribute, I believe you also have to be mentally fit so to speak. I love food! I Love to try different cuisines as well, so I will lose my mind if I have to be on a diet constantly! Food makes me happy and if I deprive myself of that happiness, I will just be a very grumpy whinny person. Hence, eat! Be happy! But be dedicated enough to work out those calories!
