After her Hollywood debut in Never Back Down: Revolt last year, sultry actress Nitu Chandra Srivastava is back on stage with her popular play Umrao Jaan after a gap of two years. Directed by Hydayat Sami, the play will be staged on October 21 in Mumbai and will see Nitu play the celebrated danseuse covering the events of her life right from age 17 to 85 years. We speak to the multitalented Nitu, who is also one of the faces of NBA Basketball in India, about her all-women production house and a couple of upcoming Hollywood projects and the play.
How excited are you to again enact Umrao on stage after two years?
It has been a purely soul-satisfying experience as I'm on my toes for two hours on stage. And each time I have performed it has been a different experience because I have literally conceived the whole character in different ways. Some days it's been good and other days bad but there's no cut in between and you are standing there for two hours. This is what makes you feel alive, grounded and loved by the audience. Umrao is an integral part of my life, somewhere I connect with the play because it tells the story of women's empowerment during the independence of India.
Have you done other plays too? How has theatre helped you grow?
Yes, I have been a part of a play called Aao Sathi Sapna Dekhe with Swanand Kirkire. I have been doing a couple of plays in schools as well. I have directed and acted in 7-8 Munshi Prem Chand's plays and I'm also looking forward to doing another biopic.
Theatre has helped me a lot to grow a lot as a person. As an actor, you talk from your heart, physically draining and straining yourself and hence it keeps you grounded.
What are the lessons learnt so far in your journey as an actor?
I was fortunate enough to get really good roles from the beginning of my career starting with Garam Masala to Traffic Signal, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and One Two Three. Thankfully, all my roles were very different from each other. Then I did this Hollywood film Never Back Down: Revolt last year. Though as an actor, I did different roles I hadn't got many opportunities. But now I have started doing more work again and I feel really fortunate and blessed.
You are a martial arts expert, is that the secret behind your toned looks?
Yes, I'm a four times black belt in Taekwondo and a martial arts pro. It keeps me very grounded and meditative. It helps me to centre myself and I believe that a martial artist is very calm in life which I am. Martial arts teaches you to never give up and be consistent.
My fitness routine is a combination of diet and fitness. I reduce my carbs and increase my protein when I need it. I drink a lot of water, sleep early and have my last meal of the day by 7 in the evening. Walking is really important for me and sometimes when I'm travelling and there's a lag in my workout, I walk or start practising a combination of martial arts. Also, I keep a check on what I eat.
Your fashion choices?
I need to feel comfortable and nice in whatever I wear. Even while I'm sleeping I wear a nice satin night suit. I like being fashionable and love different kinds of fashion trends. I like to wear loose clothes also but they have to be very stylish. My go-to dress would always be a pencil dress or skirt and daily wear comprises a basic long dress or pyjama at home. For festivities, I like to wear salwar kameez or saris. I feel a sari is the sexiest attire if somebody can carry it well and I wear it whenever I get a chance. I also wear formal suits for work meetings. My favourite colour is white apart from red and black and I like accessorising my looks with big earrings and rings.
Your upcoming projects?
I'm the first National award-winning producer from Bihar who produced a film in Maithili language (Mithila Makhaan). We shot the whole film in Bihar where we tried to create jobs. And this is what I actually aspire to do along with my National Award-winning filmmaker brother Nitin Chandra through our production house Champaran Talkies. Our next project is called Jackson Halt which is going to release on December 23.
I have two Hollywood projects in the pipeline. One of them is an action film and the other is a biopic, a web series. There's also a Malayali and a Hindi film. Also, I have set up an all-women production house Champaran Talkies Studios FZ LLC in Abu Dhabi, this month.