INTERVIEW WITH NIKITA ANAND - II

Who : Nikita Anand
About : Actress, Model, TV Anchor, Miss India World 2003
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_anand

How it happened : Interview with Nikita Anand
Interview Date: October, 2007
Place: N/A (Interview taken over phone)
Pics: None

Nikhil Taneja (NT): The response to Dil Dosti etc has garnered unanimous praise for you and the movie is picking up as well. How do you look back at your performance and the movie as a whole?
Nikita Anand (NA): Well, you know, when you look back, of course I feel there is a scope for improvement When you see yourself on screen you always feel that I could have done better here, I could have done better there. So you know in retrospect all of us felt we could have done slightly better in a number of scenes. There is always scope for improvement, but as such, when we finally did see the film, when we did see the final cut, because we had seen an earlier version, we liked it. And we have also had people coming up to us telling us that they liked the film, so it’s great overall.

NT : You play an aspiring model in the movie. Considering your background, how much did you identify with the character when you signed the movie? And how much of yourself did you put in it as the shooting progressed?
NA : Well yeah, I do play Prerna who wants to become a model. But what we show of Prerna is not here career days, it’s not here modeling days, what we show is her college life. And therefore, Prerna as a character is quite different than me as an individual because of her way of thinking and maybe yes, there are some similarities, but there are a lot of dissimilarities as well.

Every individual has a lot of shades, I mean there could be very distinctive characteristics in a person including grey shades. But when you are dealing with a fictional character, the scope for identifying with a particular character trait is huge. So you are always constantly trying to think what your character would try and do. Will it try to behave this way or that day. For you as a person, it is very easy. You either do something or you don’t do something. But to try and figure out what the character does takes a lot more. Because there is no reference point. There is nothing you can fall back on. So, we put a lot in the character as we were moving along as well.

NT : The director of the movie Manish Tiwary had said how he was inspired by the Apu trilogy for Imaad Shah’s character Apurv. So what do you think sets Dil, Dosti etc apart from the various other campus flicks that adorn our movies these days?
NA : You know, if you talk about other campus flicks, I don’t think there has been another movie like this simply because of the kind of subject we were dealing with and the kind of script we are dealing with. I mean, no one has come and told me that ‘Oh I saw your film and it was similar to so and so film’. No one came and said that and nor do I think that. Simply because, we are trying to show today’s views. We are trying to show today’s youngsters and how they think and how they talk and how they interact with others. What their take on life is, what their outlook is, how they actually behave. You know what’s happening in colleges today. How the youth is divided, there’s one lot which is totally confused and there is another lot which is very focused and very driven. Then there are others who are very grounded in ethics and then there those who are very frivolous as well. So we are talking about a film which reflects today’s views and is a very real film. I don’t think there’s been any other campus film that has been made so far on the lines of Dil, Dosti, etc.

NT : What would you say would be your favourite Dil Dosti etc moment.
NA : Favourite moment, I think it would be when we were shooting for one of the songs, Lamha Yeh Jaayega Kahan. And we had a fabulous time because we were shooting at a fort! The timings were really strenuous on all of us actors because we had to wake up at 4 in the morning or at 3 or at 5 30 in the morning. and then we were then shooting till sunset, till about 6 30-7 in the evening. But we had a fabulous time because it’s a really old fort and we were always made to climb up on these really high arches we were always on the edge of something or the other. So, we had a great time when we were shooting for this song. I would say that was quite a favourite moment.

NT : Was there a lot of camaradrie on the sets?
NA : Absolutely, there was a lot of camaraderie. Simply because, other than the fact that we all were newcomers, we were doing a college film, and we were all playing characters who were more or less the same age, so there wasn’t like a big age gap or a big age difference. So we all gelled very well. It was like we were hanging out with our own group of friends.

NT : Not many know that you sing quite well too. There was a very interesting incident at your acting workshop with Anamika Haksar where you were asked to sing and dance. Could you recollect it for the readers please?
NA : Yes, you know we were doing an exercise with Anamika. I didn’t know anyone in the cast when I signed the film and this exercise was for all of us to open up and get to know everyone and it was also a workshop which would help you open up as a person and it would help you as an actor, to express yourself in a better way. So that was the aim of the workshop. And I have a passion for singing and I have trained in Western classical. Somehow Manish got to know of it and so did Anamika. So Anamika suddenly said that okay, we want you to sing something for us. And I did that. And apparently, everyone was awed and I got this very nice applause. For me, just the fact that those people knew about my passion was great and then everyone liked it made it even better. And it did help me open up!

NT : Any interesting moments or incidents during the shooting that you’d like to recollect for the readers?
NA : There was this little prank which Prakash Jha had played on me which is something I’d definitely remember for a long time. I know him as a very serious filmmaker but when I did interact with him, I realized he had a great sense of humour. And he is always, sort of, playing pranks on someone of the other. And then he did this love letter thing where we were having lunch one day and he suddenly hands me a sheet and asks me to read it. And I had no idea what it is. And I open it and I see this love letter addressed to me. And it really shook me because it was this really long, long letter and Mr. Jha asked me to read it out aloud and I felt very embarrassed so I didn’t do that. But he took it from me and started reading it out aloud. And you know, we started you know, what the hell is going on, who is this writing a love letter. And apparently, then he called one of the assistant directors. And apparently, that fellow liked me and everything. And he was like, you know ma’am, I have been trying to tell all this to you since so long (laughs) and I really like you and stuff like that. And when all of this was happening, everyone was pulling my leg.

And later, at the end of the rehearsal, wherever I’d go, this fellow would always be behind me, and was always following me wherever I’d go. At the end of it all, I was just wondering what the hell is happening. And later I realized this love letter was a big prank played on me by Prakash Jha himself! And everyone knew of it! Everyone knew of it, but just that no one told me! That was really something I’ll remember for a long time to come.

NT : You have made a very atypical debut considering most debutantes would rather do a tried and tested love story rather than an in your face campus drama. Didn’t you think it would be a risk before you signed the dotted line?
NA : You know, there are a couple of things you would consider before you sign a film. Either it’s the banner, or the script, or who you are working with or the director, or maybe all four of them. For me, you know, initially, I didn’t want to get into films. And I did take my time and I was doing a lot of modeling and a lot of television anchoring in the meanwhile. And then I took training in kathak as well and I had also done a lot of workshops. Simultaneously, I was meeting a lot of people in the film industry and I had met Prakash Jha as well. And I think he is one person who had made some very hard hitting films. And when he decided to produce this film and it happened to be a film which is a little different from his usual films, simply because of the script and the kind of subject, he approached me with it. I liked the script a lot. And then the banner associated with it was great as well. So I went ahead. I didn't think to myself whether it was a typical debut film or not. I don’t like to think about other irrelevant things. If I like something, you know, I just go ahead with that and I just think about that from there on. That’s how I normally take things.

NT : Unlike your contemporaries, you didn’t show any inclinations for Bollywood in the three years since you won the title. What finally lured you to the silver screen?
NA : Well, it’s very simple for me. If I want to do something, then I think I have to be prepared for it. And when I won Miss India, quite frankly, I hadn’t thought that I’d become an actor. I mean, it might happen that people might get into movies as a natural progression of Miss India. But I didn’t think I should do what others have done in the past just because, you know, they have done it. And therefore, I took my time. I met people and you know, sometimes, people change your mind. When you try and meet people related to the same field, they tell you a lot of things that change the way you think. And then I was learning kathak as well and I had also done a lot of workshops. And then I felt that you know, now, I am prepared and now, I can do it. And that’s how I went ahead with it.

NT : It was a surprise to see you in a brief role in Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi before you did a full fledged one in Dil, Dosti, etc. What made you do that role?
NA : Yeah but that was not my debut film and I had signed it much later. You know, I had signed Dil, Dosti, etc. in February 2006.And Life mein kabhi kabhi, I had signed later, I think sometime in October. And it just happened that Dil Dosti released later than that. And when people see a film, they don’t see what happened behind the scenes, what scenes were there, what footage you got and what got chopped off, no one sees that. Now this film was made into a four hour long film, so they had to chop off one and a half hours. In which, quite a lot of my footage also went. But there’s no point talking about that now!

NT : While most beauty queens say it for the sake of it, you have gone ahead and done quite a bit of social work with HelpAge, Sahayta, etc. What drives you to take up these causes?
NA : Well, you know, it’s very simple. My father’s in the army and he is a doctor. And therefore, I always get a reality check thanks to my father. I am always grounded because of my father. And you know, I have learnt to count my blessings. I have realized that the simple fact of being born with healthy limbs is always taken for granted. There is so much we take for granted. My father is a doctor so there is a lot of stuff I see when I go to hospitals. You don’t realize how lucky you are. But I’ve seen so many people suffering and that has always been such a reality check. And that’s why I try to help as much as much as I can.

And you know, also the fact that HelpAge India had approached me after Miss India because Mahesh Bhupathi had asked a question on social causes. And I had said that I’d like to take up the cause of elders and that’s how HelpAge India got in touch with me and I’ve been their brand ambassadors for three years and even now, if they have some function or they want some help, I always help. Whether it’s HelpAge whether it’s Cancer Patient Association or whether it’s Sahayta, I do a lot of campaign work for them. Even very recently, I went for the Cancer Society event in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Institute to help. So I always feel if there is anyway as an individual I can help, I do my best. If there is a small little way in which when I am speaking and there is some amount of media which will, sort of carry my word forward to others and if that’s going to help in any which way, I do that.

NT : There was a time when you used to sing with Joe Periera at a Mumbai club, Not Just Jazz and were very passionate about coming out with a music album. Is that dream likely to materialize anytime soon?
NA : Well, I don’t know. I don’t know where films and music albums meet or if they meet, though I love singing. But I probably get a chance or an opportunity to sing a song in my own film, I’d love to do that.

NT : From Kathak classes to piano classes to acting workshops, what do you plan to take up next to hone your resume?
NA : Well, right now it’s films and acting. It’s very exhausting. Because, it’s acting, dance, it’s dubbing, which I think is a very tough part of acting because you have to recreate the same mood and thoughts months later. So I think it requires a lot so I don’t think I have much time to concentrate on anything else right now!

NT : Looking back at your career so far, straight from Miss Ranchi to Dil Dosti etc, how satisfied are you with what you have achieved?
NA : Well, you know, I am satisfied with what I have done though of course, I wanted much, much more as well. But yes, I am satisfied with the way things have gone so far.

NT : You have dabbled in just about everything in such a short span. So where does Nikita Anand go from here?
NA : Well, definitely, high up the ladder (smiles).

© Nikhil Taneja (nikhiltaneja@gmail.com)