Dream Girl Actor Nushrat Bharucha Believes in Making Socially Relevant Films with a Twist

After giving some stellar performances in movies like the Pyaar ka Punchnama series and Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety, it’s for the first time for Nushrat Bharucha that she does not play the 'cunning women' in her recent release. Dream Girl, her latest film, has been garnering appreciation, having National Award winning actor Ayuhsmann Khurrana in the lead and limelight. But how much is Nushrat happy with her character in Dream Girl?

In an exclusive chat with News18, she said, “When the film came to me, I first demarcated the movie’s motif. The film is about this character Karan who changes his voice, and calls people pretending to be their friend. Now, what part can I play is not the question you have to ask yourself. But are you enjoying the film and the story, which I definitely did. The second question comes, what is my role. The answer is, I am playing his love interest. But the film is not about his love interest. The film is about him being other’s love interest.”

The actress explained how the motif behind a movie’s plot becomes important when it comes to choosing the script. “Now that people know me, the film is the bigger hero for me and this movie is proudly my choice.”

She added, “If today, the motif was reversed, and I would be playing the ‘dream boy’, how many people would have come? When you’re able to recognize that the film is running on the man, here Ayushmann, and you consciously choose it, then life just become easy. For me, this film has been a blast from the beginning, to the end.”

In the wake of movies dealing with social issues, Dream Girl too seems to a type of movie that has tried to redefine the genre of comedy by giving it a perspective in a humorous manner. Nushrat agrees that this will help people to think without getting defensive.

She says, “We are not in an era where people need to be explained something by either scolding them, threatening them or creating a drama around it. We are in a democracy and I call it being preachy. The moment your tone changes about environmental issues such as do not use plastics, switch to eco-friendly modes of living or save electricity, or don’t waste fuel, things work.”

Nushrat believes making people laugh will make them realize that there’s no bigger authority above them that is driving them or commanding them to change. This change, then becomes a choice, one that is internally decided and remains everlasting.

But then again, the change has to come from within. “I do it because I feel something is crawling under my skin when things get wasted. The same way, it should hit people in the gut,” she adds.

While Bollywood directors and producers have a big male lead in their mind for the role, reportedly Nushrat was Raaj Shaandilyaa first choice for the female lead. This is an uncommon scenario as it is usually big names like Akshay and Salman who are given predominance, while female characters are often considered interchangeable.

Nushrat agrees to the scenario, but calls it simple maths. “You can twist it around, you can put smart words, you can intellectualize it, and make it an issue it is not. In a star cast, Akshay and Salman are super stars with a career of at least 50 years. They have built themselves a large audience that have been coming to the cinema for them, so of course the movie will be depending on them."

“There’s always a right time for everything. If I would have played the dream boy, how many people would have come to watch the film? But 10 years down the line, when I have created enough fandom around me, then would be the right time to make such a movie. And people will come too,” she adds.

On the pay disparity that comes with it, she says that she has just started and is content with what she is getting. She says, “People who feel that there’s a disparity should voice an opinion and talk about it. But right now, I am not in a place where I can say why I am not paid that much. There’s no reason for me to take this conversation. For me, my love and passion for films is so great that everything else comes secondary.” The actress feels there is a long way for her to reach a position where she can ask for what she thinks she deserves.

Amidst the constant debate about diversity and inclusion in the film industry today, we asked Nushrat how important is ‘politically and socially correct’ casting? The actress feels that an actor should be able to play anybody if they can. “If an actor believes they can convincingly pull of an old character that they want to play using prosthetic, then they should go ahead,” she said.

According to Nushrat, it’s the call of the director, “But I don’t think it’s an actor’s choice,” she continues. “Initially it’s always the director’s call if he wants the same character playing three different generation or different people playing the small, middle and old version. To say that this girl grew old to being this, is a different vision of a different direction. It depends on all the people who are making and writing the film. Yeah, you can cast older characters but maybe the director wants the physicality of two young actors to carry on the character.”

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