Actor Aahana Kumra isn’t letting chikungunya disrupt her work schedule; instead, she’s getting better with each passing day, in between her lights-camera-action mode. Kumra explains, “I recently contracted chikungunya. I’m doing fine now. But I really didn’t have time to recover, because I had to go on the set for a shoot on the sixth day after I was diagnosed.”

About her decision to return to work, she says, “One has to work because I couldn’t cancel any more days of shooting. I had to cancel one day. My producers were worried, saying, ‘Aur kitne days cancel karegi’. I pushed myself, took the antibiotics, and got on the set.”

The 36-year-old adds, “My job requires me to shoot for 16 hours, if they require me to do action, I can’t really turn around and tell them, ‘I can’t do it’. When I’m on set, I don’t care if I get bitten by a mosquito or bug, or if I have Covid-19. The only thing I worry about is that I get the shot right.”

And her efforts are paying off, as Kumra is being appreciated for her projects, including her most recent web series, Call My Agent: Bollywood, in which she plays a lesbian living her life on her own terms. “People have been messaging me with a lot of love for the series, especially from the LGBTQ community,” she says, adding, “It felt good to be able to normalise and humanise the situation. I also didn’t feel like I was doing anything different from what I do with another man,” concludes the actor.

Even as it offers a humorous take on four talent managers, Call My Agent: Bollywood proves that agents play a crucial role in an artiste’s success story. Soni Razdan, who plays a key role in the Netflix series, admits the film industry would have benefitted from talent managers in the ’80s and ’90s — a period when she was in the prime of her career.

The senior actor recounts, “It’s weird that we didn’t have managers back then. If you got one, he would be an [odd] person, wearing white pants and a shirt. I could not relate to [them]. There were no casting directors either. So, how was an actor to find out about a role? We didn’t have Instagram to promote ourselves. Today, I feel lucky to have a management team that helps me and pushes me to do better.”

The Shaad Ali-directed series, an adaptation of the popular French series of the same name, sees Rajat Kapoor, Aahana Kumra, Ayush Mehra and Razdan’s characters hustling every day for their celebrity clients while struggling with their personal lives.

For a country obsessed with the Hindi film industry, Razdan believes a show centred on it was long overdue. “Our film industry is bigger than the French film industry, and we have a huge talent pool. The Bollywood version of the show has its own flavour; it is about our stars and their problems.”

Most associate Bollywood with glitz and glamour. But with Call My Agent: Bollywood, director Shaad Ali is set to showcase the chaos and confusion that ensues in the movie business. Like its original material — the popular French show, Call My Agent — the Indian version too will see many stars from the current lot in special appearances. In an episode, real-life couple Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal will be seen playing themselves but with a twist, as they keep taking potshots at each other.

A fan of the French comedy, Chadha says she jumped at the idea of featuring in its Indian adaptation. That her character was far divorced from her real-life personality only added to the charm. “It was a blessing to be shooting opposite Ali. I love the French show, and I am happy someone thought it could work in the Indian setting,” she says.

The actor, who has displayed her funny streak in the Fukrey franchise as well as One Mic Stand, says the director encouraged them to add their own touch to the comic scenes. “Shaad was so open to ideas. He allowed us to improvise and come up with comedic lines. He is cooking up a treat.”

The series will be headlined by Rajat Kapoor, Aahana Kumra, Soni Razdan and Ayush Mehra.