Nimrat Kaur, who first shot into the spotlight as the girl in the car in the Cadbury Silk ad and then followed it up with a stunningly soulful debut in The Lunchbox, along side Irrfan, has a Hindi film release after a long time. The actor will be seen in the role of a homemaker thrust into politics and eventually calling the shots in Dasvi.
Also starring Abhishek Bachchan and Yami Gautam Dhar, Dasvi tells the story of an uneducated politician (played by Bachchan) who aims to clear his Class 10 exams while he’s in prison. The film, directed by Tushar Jalota, will stream simultaneously on Netflix and JioCinema from April 7.
The Telegraph chatted with Nimrat on what went into playing her Bimla Devi, her big-ticket international projects and how she’s recalibrated herself in the last few years.
It’s been a film release for you after a while. What about Dasvi interested you?
Very honestly, Dasvi has ticked all the boxes that were never even offered to me before. It’s a film set in the heartland, it required for me to be as far away from Nimrat as possible. I have no point of similarity with Bimla Devi, when she starts off as a housewife to where she ends up, which is as chief minister Bimla Devi Chaudhary. It’s a part that required me to attempt comedy as a genre for the first time. I had to learn a new accent, which is Haryanvi. I had to put on weight... at the end of it, I was 15kg up from when I had started out.
It’s a part that required me to travel the farthest I have ever travelled from Nimrat. I had always known that I wanted to attempt something like this, and it’s taken a very long time for an opportunity like this to come by.
Along with being challenging and exciting, did the prospect of playing this character also scare you?
Ya! Terrifying, terrifying! As I was preparing for the part and getting into the scenes, I kept thinking that one doesn’t really know how much is too much and how little is too little. As an actor, comedy is a very difficult road to travel because you don’t really know how funny you can be... will a joke or a line fall flat, is the audience going to relate with it.... I still don’t know how it’s going to land and so, it’s a huge risk.
It was also interesting to physically inhabit a body which I don’t recognise and which I don’t relate to. I have never had more than a certain amount of weight on me, and to push that boundary and be 70kg at the height that I am, was quite something. Physically, it really challenged me. I have had sleepless nights, I had developed health issues, my joints had started taking a beating. To add to that, I had to stay with that weight for months because the first lockdown struck while we were in the middle of shooting the film! I was the only one left with quite a bit of shoot to do, and so I had to retain that weight for three-four months. So I have actually stayed with Bimla Devi physically and otherwise for about a year.
Playing this part was challenging, but not in a heavy way in terms of emotions. Even with (web series) The Test Case, I had to transform physically in a big way in order to be able to play a commando. In Dasvi, I had to unlearn everything when I was on set. I had to forget who Nimrat is, I had to completely let go of my inhibitions and the proper-ness of the person that I have been brought up to be. I come from an army background and have a certain kind of education, I have led a certain kind of life....
In this film, I had to physically and emotionally inhabit a world that I had never ever experienced. I don’t know anyone in my immediate environment who is like Bimla Devi. So playing her involved a lot of guesswork. In its own way, I would say that this is probably one of the most challenging parts that I have ever attempted.
Nimrat Kaur in 'Dasvi', streaming from April 7
Despite praiseworthy turns in The Lunchbox and Airlift, you have done very few films. Was a meaty part that tests your skills to the extent like it has in Dasvi been a long time coming?
I believe everything has its own time. Would I have liked many parts like this to have come to me much earlier? Sure. But one can’t live in the past and wish for things that haven’t happened that you think should have happened. I think everything happens at the right time and when you are ready for it.
Does the fact that you continue to feature in big international projects — Homeland to Wayward Pines to now the second season of Foundation — hurt your chances in Bollywood?
Absolutely right! But it’s a good problem to have, it’s a problem of abundance. It’s first world problem (smiles) and not something that I would wish away. When I go abroad, I am asked, ‘Why don’t we have enough of you here? Why don’t you move here?’
My criteria to pick up work, whether it’s here or there, has always been variety and quality. I like to work with quality minds where we are creating something that I would like to watch as an audience. And it’s entertaining. I always look to pick subjects that are entertaining and engaging. I don’t care for intellectually stimulating or cerebral work that doesn’t move the heart. I don’t care to watch it, I don’t care to be a part of work like that. I always look to do work that tugs at the right strings and things that I find warm and entertaining.
Have you ever toyed with the idea of moving bag and baggage to the West?
Never! I don’t want to live abroad. I love working there, but I love coming back home to India. I love Mumbai immensely, it’s given me everything. I never want to live abroad.
You started off with Homeland in 2014. With colour-blind casting and inclusion being stressed upon now more than ever, how have things changed for you in the kind of international work that you are offered?
Things have improved for sure. Also, it’s a function of so much work being produced. There are so many (streaming) platforms, so many different kinds of shows are being made... the content coming out is just a representation of the times we are living in now. I feel it was always a matter of time before things expanded and people realised that we need to have much more variety and diversity in what we are putting out.
In Season 2 of Foundation, that I am currently shooting for AppleTV+, I am playing a character called Yanna Seldon who is clearly not Indian. It’s a colour-blind, ethnicity-blind casting... and I find that remarkable!
Belated birthday wishes (Nimrat turned 40 on March 13). What do birthdays mean to you and have perspective and priorities seen an overhaul for you after the life-changing two years we all have had?
I have started enjoying my birthdays after getting out of college. Before that, invariably, my birthday would always be in the middle of exams! So the misery and suffering on my birthday as a child, I am over-compensating for it now! (Laughs) I am just living it up! On my birthday, I love being with my family. I try and make a trip, long or short, every year on my birthday.
And yes, in the last two years, things have changed. In fact, this birthday which I just celebrated, was a coming together of my family after three years. It was wonderful and so heartwarming to be in one place. What I have realised over the last two years is that we actually need very little to be happy. It’s all about what your priorities are. All of us have re-prioritised our lives somewhere. If relationships were nurturing, people have taken them to the next level... they have got married or had babies. If relationships were not working out, people have left each other. At a human level, I have really recalibrated and have realised who and what is important to me in life and who and what isn’t. This kind of clarity I never had before the last two years. I feel like a changed person, for the better.
