Call her Permanent Roommates’ Tanya Nagpal or MOM’s Neetu Sinha, Nidhi Singh has established a strong foothold in the digital space with her body of work. Within a short span of time, the actress has emerged as a promising face. Now, after a range of romantic shows and emotionally driven characters, Nidhi is all set to pack some punches in ZEE5’s Independence weekend release Abhay 2.
As the crime-thriller also featuring Kunal Kemmu, Ram Kapoor, Chunky Panday and Bidita Bag is hours away from its premiere, Nidhi, in an exclusive conversation with PeepingMoon.com, candidly spoke about what prompted her to sign a series that belongs to a different territory if one sheds light on her past work. Saying that she is an admirer of crime-thrillers, Nidhi shared that it was exciting for her to play an officer on duty. She further stated that having taken a break from stereotypical roles with Abhay 2, Nidhi told being stoic and devoid of emotions isn’t an easy task.
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Mentioning that she has been always ‘drawn’ to such intense stories, Nidhi said she wants to break the mould with Abhay 2. “When Abhay 2 came to me, I found it exciting to step into the shoes of someone who is duty-bound and gender-neutral. Man or woman doesn’t matter, she is an officer at the end of the day. I’ve always been a part of emotionally driven shows and to play an officer on duty, you have to be stoic and devoid of emotions. To imbibe that for my character, wasn’t easy. But it was interesting to do a character like this. Having said that, I am aware that I am a small fish in the universe of Abhay. I am one of the officers and the focus is definitely on the hero and villain. I get to solve some good cases. I am hopeful people notice me in this form too and not just as a damsel in distress,” the actress told us.
Calling her experience of working with Kunal, Ram and Chunky ‘educational’, Nidhi opined that great actors share a trait of easily transforming into their respective characters as the cameras start rolling.
Quiz her whether the digital zone is the new platform for scripts written specifically for women, Nidhi, pausing for a second, agreed that the audience is getting to watch well etched out characters. Justifying her answer with her own example, Nidhi said her character Tanya in Permanent Roommates wasn’t like the other Bollywood heroine who will burst into tears when her boyfriend proposed. Stating all girls have their own lives, Nidhi said, “Our lovers or boyfriends are not the ones who are going to determine when did we get married.”
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Taking the conversation forward, Nidhi agreed that Indian actresses and filmmakers are willing to take risks in terms of telling strong stories. Having said so, she hoped that gender-neutral roles gain ground. A self-proclaimed fan of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Nidhi felt roles and shows like Fleabag should be written and made in the country.
While Nidhi has been active on the web, she did two films namely Brij Mohan Amar Rahe (2017) and Dil Juunglee (2018). Talking about her character in Dil Juunglee co-starring Taapsee Pannu and Saqib Saleem, Nidhi revealed that she didn’t want to sign the film as she found her character Ayesha Kumar ‘caricaturish’. “Dil Juunglee came to me after the first season of Permanent Roommates. For me, if a girl doesn’t end up with the hero, she doesn’t have to be ‘caricaturish’. But I liked the way Aleya Sen (director) treated my track,” Nidhi said.
Well, not just two films, but Nidhi had signed up for a tiny role in Anurag Basu’s critically acclaimed Barfi!. Talking about her role that got snipped out on the edit table, Nidhi revealed that she was to be seen as Ileana D’Cruz’s husband’s younger sister. “It was a very small part but I was excited for getting a chance to be in Anurag sir’s film. It was a day’s job. It wasn’t a speaking part and I was told in advance that sir is still figuring out whether the track needs to be in the film or not,” she concluded.
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