- Saturday, November 30, 2024
Tamannah Bhatia expressed admiration for co-star Jimmy Shergill, noting the effort it takes to sustain an impressive career over decades
By: India Weekly
TAMANNAH BHATIA, who began her acting career at age 15, shared her respect for performers with long careers, emphasising that lasting in the industry requires not just relevance but memorability.
In an interview with PTI, Bhatia expressed admiration for co-star Jimmy Shergill, noting the effort it takes to sustain an impressive career over decades.
“As an actor, I understand what it takes to have an extremely long career and that requires a very different kind of skill set. It’s not about just being relevant. It’s about being memorable,” said Bhatia, who has been working since 2005.
“Every step you’re taking, you’re trying to create something impactful. So I appreciate actors who’ve survived for a long time. It takes a lot of work and evolution.”
Bhatia began her career with a feature in the song “Lafzo Mein” by Abhijeet Sawant, the first winner of “Indian Idol,” before making her acting debut in the Hindi film “Chand Sa Roshan Chehra.”
She later found success in Tamil and Telugu cinema with films like “Happy Days,” “Kalloori,” “Padikkadavan,” “Paiyaa,” “Veeram,” and the “Baahubali” series. Bhatia has also acted in Hindi movies including “Himmatwala,” “Entertainment,” “Babli Bouncer,” “Plan A Plan B,” and “Lust Stories 2.”
In her new project, “Sikandar ka Muqaddar,” Bhatia stars as Kamini Singh alongside Shergill and Avinash Tiwary. Directed by Neeraj Pandey, known for “Baby” and “Special 26,” the heist thriller follows a relentless cop (Shergill) whose pursuit of a suspect (Tiwary) becomes an obsession. The film is set to stream on Netflix starting Friday.
“What I think I loved is that we have very clear-cut characters to play, and I was just happy to collaborate with both of them (Tiwary and Shergill) because you are feeding off of each other when it comes to performances,” Bhatia said.
Bhatia shared that she initially felt intimidated by Shergill. “The first scene we shot, I didn’t know how to approach him. And then I realised he was just in character for a while. I spoke to him on the second day. The first day I just pretended. I was like, ‘Okay, maybe he’s just like a really angry person. So I won’t talk to him.’”
The actor also mentioned how “Sikandar ka Muqaddar” allowed her to present a different side of herself.
“For me, it’s a very fresh outing from whatever work I’ve done. I’m pretty much not wearing anything on my face in the film. And I feel like I’ve never gone this bare for a role because I felt on the digital medium, I want people to see people’s faces. I want them to be able to see the character. I don’t want them to feel like it has any baggage of vanity.”
Bhatia praised Pandey for his meticulous approach on set. “He’s clear about things and he does things very meticulously, expects everybody also to be on that page. And that’s something I really enjoyed because I like that little fire. When you’re on his set, you’re on your toes.”
Currently, Bhatia’s career outlook is not centered on the size of projects. “It’s that time, I think, for actors in general to just bring your A-game to everything you do because you don’t know what’s going to work. There’s no way to judge that. It could be something that you think is very small but it’s just the authenticity that sometimes speaks. It’s what you do that makes it big or small. I follow that approach very strongly,” she said.
“Sikandar ka Muqaddar” is produced by Shital Bhatia under Friday Storytellers and features Rajeev Mehta, Divya Dutta, and Zoya Afroz.
