Amaara Sangam, who is winning hearts as Minu Dimri on Netflix's recently-released movie Murder Mubarak, has Ajay Devgn's Rudra in her portfolio. In Rudra, as Amaara says, she grabbed a lot of audience eyeballs. "Because it was such a widely watched show, my craft potential got recognised and the scenes in there were very intense. I would receive Instagram and WhatsApp messages from people complimenting me for that. I grew as an actor from that experience," says Amaara. We speak to her to decode her character in Murder Mubarak, her journey as an actor and so on.
Tell us a bit about Murder Mubarak.
Working in Murder Mubarak was so many firsts for me. Working with a director like Homi Adajania, who is such a big director and so effortless with his approach to working with a whole ensemble of iconic cast and a thriller with hints of dark comedy. It’s a unique and very fun combination and I think audiences will pick up on the vibe we all shared on set and be entertained, laugh and sit at the edge of their seats trying to guess ‘who dunnit’.
How was it to work alongside so many talented actors altogether?
I grew up admiring and imitating Karisma Kapoor. It was a proud moment to be in the same frame as her. She is as gorgeous as we think! Pankaj sir is just so humble and there is so much to learn from him. I kept grabbing any opportunity I had with him to learn more about his approach to his career, goal, and work ethic. It truly is commendable to listen to his stories. Vijay and I didn’t interact much but Sara is most often as fun and light on set as she comes across in her social media. While waiting for our takes we would share, and discuss random things from snack flavours we love on set (we both loved coffee flavours).
It is undoubtedly intimidating for a young artist who didn’t grow up in these circles, to be around the likes of Dimple Kapadia, Karisma Kapoor, Tisca Chopra and so many senior actors. But I would like to believe I held my own with grace and I learnt a lot!
How did you like playing Minu?
Minu is this young girl working as a barista in the elite Delhi club where the story is set. Homi sir encouraged me to add character nuances. You’ll often see her blowing her nose and crying about things. To the extent that I improvised things in a scene both Pankaj sir and Homi sir complimented me and made it a character nuance. Was talking to Panchmi, my casting director, after and she was so proud that I had this moment on set. And you’ll see it in the film. I hope it’s equally memorable for audiences but it was a special moment for me.
The look itself was something I had never done before. Noodle hair and staff costume. I have fairly straight hair. So, it would take my hairstylist an hour every day to noodle curl my hair so it looks natural. It came to a point where one day Homi sir realised I don’t naturally have noodle hair and was shocked I did that every day. Everyone in the crew thought I had noodle hair. I’m fairly sure many of my friends and family won’t be able to recognise me in the film. It’s such a fun experience when you get to transform your look and personality. She almost comes across as being naive. But is she really? You’ll have to watch the film for that.
You have also acted in music videos, do you approach all types of projects differently?
Honestly, my approach is the same no matter what I am going for. Whether it’s a music video film series an ad or even a photoshoot. The joy of being an actor is you get to live so many characters’ lives. So I always pick a backstory for a character and play that in front of the camera. What changes is the language and medium of expression of the internal story I have built about a character.
Upcoming projects in the pipeline?
I actually don’t know about my next projects yet. I was to shoot for something and was prepping for that but that project got shelved recently. So I am, like any actor, auditioning and enjoying the process, trying to not obsess over the result of the audition.
Murder Mubarak is streaming on Netflix.