Eleven years since she stepped into the film industry and seven since she appeared in Kabir Singh, Nikita Dutta’s journey in Bollywood has been steady, but always on the rise.
Dutta views the industry through a more seasoned lens today — especially how she identifies herself midst the current entertainment landscape which she believes is slowly depriving itself of old-school Bollywood romances, the kind she grew up watching, loving and now hopes to be part of too.
She is set to do exactly that with her upcoming Prime Video series Nazdeekiyan, a romantic drama from Dharmatic Entertainment, in which she will star alongside Paresh Pahuja, Aakanksha Singh and Taaha Shah Badusha.
In a conversation with THR India, Dutta talks about this series, her breakthrough with Kabir Singh, navigating the industry without the padding of a film background and the kind of cinema she wishes to be associated with.
What can you tell us about your upcoming series Nazdeekiyan?
Nazdeekiyan is a show I'm doing for Amazon, and is being made by Dharma. It's an ensemble cast with the four of us (Paresh Pahuja, Aakanksha Singh, Taaha Shah Badusha and Nikita Dutta) who are a part of the show. It's literally about the romance and drama that we deal with today in our everyday lives.
I think it's a very realistic take... we need more rom-coms. However, I don't know how much of a comedy it's going to be. It’s a lot of romantic drama that you're going to see!
It's been seven years since Kabir Singh. How do you feel about that?
It gave me a brand-new life. When I look back at these seven years, I feel like it's a huge milestone for me because it's been 11 years since I've been working.
When I started acting, the sheer passion of acting was always to be on the big screen, and Kabir Singh gave me that. It was widely viewed and appreciated. It’s something that I look back at and think of as a starting point of my career. When I look back at the previous years, I take them as more like a learning phase, whereas I feel like I got employed with Kabir Singh.
You don't come from a film background. What has it been like to navigate this industry without one?
A lot of the first-hand lessons that life and work teach you would have probably been obvious if I was somehow connected. That's the only drawback, but I've tried to take it in my stride.
I just wanted to get out there and work. I cannot sit and wait for my dream role to just come walking into my doorstep. That's the attitude I have always approached the art of acting with. I have tried to stick to that, and that has taught me quite a few lessons in either a good way or a bad way. I like to believe that the universe has rewarded me with a lot of great people that I ended up working with.
During Kabir Singh, from Sandeep sir to Shahid (Kapoor), all these people come under that. For somebody like me, to get a film and a positioning like that was like a gift given in my lap.
More than anything, I've realised you can go to the fanciest acting school, but what you learn on ground is what teaches you how to be a better actor. Doing it over and over again, exposing yourself to being vulnerable and accepting everything that a film set throws onto you.. that's what makes you more experienced.
What do you want to watch today that you think that the film industry has not been making?
I feel like we're really struggling to do great rom-coms right now. Yes, we all need action movies too. We've gone places when it comes to giving thrillers, and we’ve got serious with cinema and I really appreciate that.
But at the same time, I am somebody who's grown up in the 2000s, and the reason why I got attracted to it so much was because there was romance. There were all sorts of flashy things that drew you, but there was also something that made you connect with it.
I feel like that balance is something we are really lacking right now. I want to see a mix of a little bit of reality, a little bit of genuine emotion, as well as drama, and a bit of over-the-top dancing. I feel like that’s what Bollywood stands for; it’s something I really miss.
Saiyaara, for instance, was an out-and-out romantic film, and it worked because it was after a long time that somebody passionately attempted something like that. In this world where we're all trying to do something so gory and realistic, we've forgotten old-school romance. I want to see that, and be a part of that.
How are you different now compared to when you made your debut back in 2014?
I have way too many reality checks now. I'm way too practical and I know not to be delusional. I think that's the first thing that I've learned because when I was doing a little cameo in a film in 2014, I thought that was it. It's taken all these years to get here and it has made me very patient.
It has taught me to not get anxious. I'm going to use a little Hindi over here, but in my family we were always taught that in life you need to be a ‘lambi race ka ghoda’ (a horse built for the long race). You have to reach your goal. So, when you look at it that way, I think these 11 years have really changed me.
The problems you deal with today are way more hectic than before, but it's just your attitude towards dealing with them that matters. I'm here to stay and I'm not going anywhere; it's something I passionately love, and this is my bread and butter as well.
What is the kind of recognition you seek and the type of impact you want to see yourself make?
I'll be very frank; I am always a little confused about public perception. I always try and tell myself not to go with the trends and not to do what the mob is doing.
We are, by default, influencers because people look at us the minute we do something on-screen. But I don't want that to be my primary identity. That is just a byproduct.
I've cautiously taken a call to not do certain kinds of films which have come my way, because that's not the kind of cinema I want to be associated with. I want to stick to films and not give in to television again, irrespective of however the finances play out.