After marking her Hindi film debut with Rockstar in 2011, Nargis Fakhri has only done over a dozen films till now. “My team is very picky about what I should be doing,” says the actor, adding, “Not being from the industry, I obviously have to take advice from people who are from the industry. Something like Madras Cafe (2013) came after Rockstar. Even though there was a break [of two years] between the two, I got recognized for good acting. I’m happy about the choices I made.”

Being an American, the actor had a tough time honing her Hindi-speaking skills. “People could not see it (her hard work). I didn’t see my family for two or three years. I studied Hindi for almost 10 hours in a small office. It was hard work, but also good luck at the same time, because my team was really good. They worked on getting the right projects for me,” shares Fakhri, who will be seen next in the Telugu period drama Hari Hara Veera Mallu.

Ask the 42-year-old if the slower than usual pace with her film outings was because she had fewer connections in the industry, and she shares, “I just lived life carefree, open to opportunities. I did modelling, and when I came to the film industry, I had really put in a lot of hard work.”