After her Hollywood debut in Never Back Down: Revolt last year, actor Nitu Chandra Srivastava is back on stage with her popular play Umrao Jaan—it was staged on Friday in Mumbai—after a gap of two years.
Directed by Hydayat Sami, the play will see Nitu play the celebrated danseuse covering the events of her life right from age 17 to 85. We speak to Nitu, who is also one of the faces of NBA Basketball in India, about her all-women production house, the play, and more.
How excited are you to revive Umrao Jaan 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 India’s independence struggle.
How has theatre helped you grow?
I have been a part of a play called Aao Sathi Sapna Dekhe with Swanand Kirkire. I have directed and acted in seven to eight Munshi Prem Chand plays and I’m also looking forward to doing another biopic.
Theatre has helped me grow as a person. As an actor, you talk from your heart, physically straining yourself and hence it keeps you grounded.
Lessons you learnt as an actor...
I was fortunate enough to get good roles from the beginning of my career starting with Garam Masala to Traffic Signal, etc. 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. Now, I’ve started doing more work and I feel blessed.
You are a martial arts expert. Is that the secret behind your toned looks?
Yes, I’m a four-time black belt in Taekwondo and martial arts pro. It helps me centre myself. Martial arts teaches you to never give up. My fitness routine is a combination of diet and fitness. I drink a lot of water, sleep early, and have my last meal of the day by 7pm.
Upcoming projects...
I’m the first National award-winning producer from Bihar who produced a film in the Maithili language (Mithila Makhaan). We shot the film in Bihar where we tried to create jobs. 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 Malayalam and a Hindi film. Also, I have set up an all-women production house Champaran Talkies Studios FZ LLC in Abu Dhabi.