She is among those actors who have charted their own course. Her second film Lunchbox till today stands testament to her exceptional acting prowess. After starring in other popular Hindi films such as Airlift and American television series, Homeland and Wayward Pines, Nimrat Kaur presents herself in a new role. The actor plays a commando in the special forces in the new web series The Test Case that’s just released on ALT Balaji.
“This story is about a girl who gets handpicked to be in the special forces and the narrative is about her journey, trials and tribulations,” says Nimrat. As her father is from the defence forces, the actor had the advantage of growing up in an army environment. So playing an officer came naturally to her, but what she really had to work on was her physique. The actress says, “I had to look convincing as a girl who would attempt high endurance exercises, and would be able to man weapons. I went through high endurance, high intensity and functional training, and did drills that made me physically sharper and smarter. This preparation went on for almost five months.”
Virtual role
Though Nimrat’s last film Airlift was a huge success, the actor, instead of waiting for another film, chose to work in the web series immediately considering the content and the reach. “Unless it is a massive production like Airlift, with a huge actor involved, films come and go. People don’t even go to the theatre to watch. With a web series, there’s no box office, no opening and no noise. But this is something that will be around forever. At this point in time, I got this privilege of headlining a story.... I don’t know if I would get this opportunity in a film,” says the actor.
Learning from the West
What also sets Nimrat apart is the fact that she is among the very few Indian actors who have starred in American television series. She played the role of Tasneem Qureshi, an ISI official in Season 4 of Homeland and was cast as Rebecca Yedlin in Season 2 of Wayward Pines. “The vocabulary and how they express themselves in the West is very different. We are a very emotionally charged culture. We express things in a way that’s intrinsic to our nationality. I had to undo a lot of that and had to be able to mould myself according to their culture and sense of expression.You need to be relevant to a bigger audience and need to have worldwide relatability. They are very punctual, there is dignity of labour — these are some amazing things we can learn from them,” says the actor who is now happy with the success of The Test Case and is keen to act in a commercial film next.
ayeshatabassum@newindianexpress.com
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