'People go through lifetimes without speaking about what they've gone through as kids.'
'And that colours their entire lives, their choices, their bosses, their friends, their lovers, the way they are with their children.'
To this day, Nimrat Kaur's portrayal of Ila in The Lunchbox remains one of her most cherished roles.
Despite Irrfan's redoubtable presence in that film, Nimrat also made the audience sit up and notice her.
The film's sweet success established Nimrat as a bright new talent, but she maintained low profile in Bollywood by doing only a handful of projects since her breakthrough in 2013.
Not restricting her talent to just one industry or language, the actress paved her way to Hollywood as she picked pivotal roles in international television series like Homeland and Wayward Pines.
As she dabbles her career across genres and industries, Nimrat describes her hustle as "exciting" and "really fun".
But everything is being done at her own pace.
The actress, who essays the role of a school counselor in her latest OTT show School of Lies, tells Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com, "I'm not basing my professional thrills or excitement by being one above someone else because that's a fool's errand. I don't care about competition."
Nandita is such a layered and complex character. What was the biggest challenge of playing this role?
The responsibility of playing this part was to make sure that I am able to portray it with a clean, non-judgmental and empathetic point of view.
She's a fractured person.
She is somebody who's deeply empathetic and understands exactly where the children are.
It was important for me to make sure that at no point, does it become untruthful. That was the biggest guideline I wanted to stick to.
Was it difficult to snap out of such a complex character?
No. I don't take my characters home.
I don't take my work home.
I travel light.
Whatever happens at work stays at work.
But sometimes, certain scenes are heavier to enact. Things get a little bit more challenging than the rest.
How do you unwind after shooting for a difficult show like this?
It takes me time to process some things out sometimes but I'm not someone who travels heavy at all.
I like to leave my work at work.
For me, more than playing an emotionally difficult part, I find it difficult to deal with an inefficient workday.
It is challenging for me when the day hasn't gone off as well as I would have liked to.
Otherwise, I am a very easy-going person.
I don't stress myself out with work at home.
I switch off completely when I'm home.
What makes your collaboration with Director Avinash Arun so special?
I have been a fan of his work since Killa days.
I knew that whatever he touches will be special and I was very curious to see why he's doing this project. And what is it that he's doing next after Paatal Lok.
Working with him is a transformative experience because he's so fluid and simple. He brings the best out of you as an actor.
The show is a brilliant exploration of the psychology of lying, especially among minors. What's been your takeaway from the show?
As adults, we need to have conversations with the children in our society.
So much happens to kids which they aren't able to speak about even when they grow up.
People go through lifetimes without speaking about what they've gone through as kids. And that colours their entire lives, their choices, their bosses, their friends, their lovers, the way they are with their children.
Everything that happens to you in your childhood is beyond your control.
You learn how to combat everything to the best of your ability, but not everybody is able to handle everything in the best fashion.
People develop vaults and defence mechanisms and sometimes the bullied become the bullies.
The biggest learning for me was that in schools, mental health and sex education should be non-negotiables. They are as important as any other subject, if not more.
Have you encountered lies in Bollywood? How do you deal with it?
(Laughs) Well, you just can't help it.
How can you deal with lies being told to you in your work environment? Lies are told everywhere.
All of us lie -- white lies, small lies, big lies.
People lie a lot about time. 'Oh, yes, I am reaching in just two minutes' is a common lie.
I feel like now we're running out of excuses about why something's not happening on time.
It's quite surprising that you have only done two feature films in the last decade, Airlift (2016) and Dasvi (2022). Are you picky about the roles you want to play or is it something else?
See, it's not like I haven't been offered the parts that I really wanted to do.
I have done some stuff on OTT.
I've done a show called The Test Case.
But it's been a combination of not being given the kind of parts that I really wanted to do and me not having the time to do what I really wanted to do.
Or those parts went to someone else.
Thanks to OTT, we are seeing a positive shift in content, and actors are benefiting hugely from that. But there is also a lot of competition. How do you navigate your way through it?
You hope that you will get to work in all the amazing stuff that's happening.
I don't have time to think about competition, and compete for what exactly?
Competition is not something that actors should focus on unless it's making them better at their craft and driving their fire.
It doesn't fuel my fire. I am in the pursuit of excellence.
I'm in the pursuit of standards of professional competence that makes sense to me.
I'm not basing my professional thrills or excitement by being one above someone else because that's a fool's errand.
That's always going to change.
The moment I feel like I'm number one, somebody else will be waiting to replace me. And they shall.
I don't really care about competition.
You once said that you grew up watching Bollywood masala entertainers. Would you like to do a film like that, if offered?
Oh yeah, absolutely!
I would love to do all kinds of films -- horror, thriller, comedy romantic comedy, full Bollywood masala.
I would love to work with every masala film-maker out there!
You are one of the few Indian artists who marked their presence in the West. What's been the most gratifying aspect of this journey?
When you work with different directors, actors and in a different language, it gets you exposed to different work cultures.
It opens up your mind and keeps your circuit wired in different ways at all times.
That is very exciting.
How do you envisage your journey ahead in Hollywood?
I just want to keep working, man.
I have worked a lot more abroad in the last year, and a lot of my time went away there.
You will get to see more work coming out.
At the end of the day, as an actor, I am only doing things for reaction.
If the reaction is nice and encouraging, it makes you keep going.
You feel validated and encouraged, and it makes you feel excited to pick up the next job.
I want to keep doing good work that resonates with people. I live for that.
