Nushrat Bharucha is in Thailand for her best friend’s bachelorette with a gang of five girls
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 5, 2019)

Riding high on the success of her recently released film, Dream Girl, Nushrat Bharucha is currently in Thailand for the bachelorette of her best friend, Shrushti. It’s a 10-day hen trip with a gang of five who make it a point to travel together once a year. The actress will be back in the Bay on Sunday.

“I explored the islands around Phuket in the first seven days. We stayed at a resort in Coconut Village Island and it was a 20-minute boat ride to the islands,” informs Nushrat, admitting that she’s not an ‘itinerary person’ and prefers to explore remote places on her own rather than the usual tourist destinations. At the mainland, they sampled the local cuisine and checked out the coffee shops, but the real attraction was the old town in Phuket. “We have been partying every single night. Shrushti, who’s been my best friend for a decade, gets married in November,” she reveals. Any memories she can share? “I’m doing crazy things every single night, but I am not going to tell that to anybody,” she laughs.

Prod her for details and she says that her group has a rule: Nobody is allowed to sleep during the holiday. “The trips are so hectic that I need a week to relax on returning to Mumbai. The days are spent on the beach, riding the waves and indulging in water sports. We have dinner at a nice place, then go bar hopping. We get back at 5 am, sleep for two hours, then it’s an early breakfast,” she rattles off.

Basking in all the love and appreciation Dream Girl is getting, Nushrat is now gearing up for the release of Hansal Mehta’s next, Turram Khan, featuring Rajkummar Rao. “We just have a couple days of patch work left. Then, there’s a film that would be announced by the year-end. It will start in early 2020. Sorry, I can’t give details right now,” she signs off on an enigmatic note.

MUMBAI MIRROR (August 26, 2019)

Last week, Mirror had reported that Ayushmann Khurrana and Nushrat Bharucha were shooting for the recreated version of Dada Kondke and Usha Chavan’s Marathi song, “Dhagala Laagli Kala”, for their upcoming film, Dream Girl. The duo was joined by Riteish Deshmukh, who puts in a special appearance in the track. Now, we hear that the actress’s look in the naach gaana has been inspired by Madhuri Dixit’s fast paced number “Humo Aaj Kal Hai Intezaar” from the 1990 film Sailaab.

As told to Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 8, 2018)

I’ve always lived in a joint family and growing up, I was really close to my father’s sister. My aunt was a journalist working with a daily newspaper before she married an art director and joined one of India’s leading fashion magazines. I’ve been a part of her journey since the beginning, met her media friends when they came home. I was fascinated by her world and how it gave me a new perspective on culture and society. I too wanted to become a journalist, and cover the crime beat. I dreamt of being on the field all day and reporting live from conflict zones. In college, I even opted for a bachelor’s degree in mass media, with journalism and advertising as my subjects of specialisation, but destiny had other plans.

From day two, I was involved with the backstage production of college plays and in my first year, was organising many events. I was branded ‘Busy Bee’ as I could multi-task effortlessly. I put together contingents for inter-college fests, found in-house talent for fashion shows and dance competitions and even sourced directors and choreographers for events. I believed I would make a great show-runner and eventually become a producer.

For one such event in 2009, I managed to get a leading face wash brand as a sponsor for a talent contest. They wanted to scout for a “fresh face”, offering the lure of a gift hamper for the winner. They auditioned for five days and on the day of the finale, I was called on stage and literally pushed out of wings as they announced that I was their ‘fresh face’.

I hated facing a camera or a crowd. I had always suffered from stage fright and thought my role was behind-the-scenes. But to my surprise, I bagged a couple of ads after that college win and even a small feature film.

In 2010, I got a call from casting director Atul Mongia’s office. Nervous about my first audition, I asked my best friend to accompany me. I was given a scene which required me to cry on cue. I apologized for being foolish enough to believe I could be an actor and began to cry in earnest, not realizing that the camera was rolling. And before I knew it, I was at a workshop with Dibakar (Banerjee), prepping up for Love Sex Aur Dhokha.

Dibakar is a smart and talented filmmaker and though I was clueless, the way he approached my character Shruti opened my mind to a new world. I fell in love with the craft and realized I only wanted to be in front of the camera.

Between LSD and Pyaar Ka Punchnama, I went for every audition in the city — film, TV, ads — but never to an acting school. They were my daily class, with a new brief and character every day, played out on different sets to different audiences. They helped me hone my skills and made me a better actor.

Today, when I am on set, I’m not just an actress but also a backseat production designer and assistant director. You can never take the producer out of me, but since acting takes so much of my time, I’ll have to wait a while to wear the producer’s hat.

Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; February 15, 2018)

Besides understanding the psyche of their character in a film, actors also go the extra mile to transform themselves physically to do justice to the part. Take Nushrat Bharucha for instance. The actress turned vegan during the shooting of her upcoming film, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. She went on a special vegan, gluten and dairy-free diet to maintain her toned abs during the shoot. Nushrat was introduced to the diet by a New York-based friend, who specialises in vegan food. She loved it so much that she follows it even now.

Says Nushrat, “I belong to a Bohri Muslim family, and for us, food is our biggest celebration. We are used to elaborate five to six-course meals. So, to give up on our signature dishes, which can only be made with chicken/mutton, was like living someone else’s life suddenly! This wasn’t only a dietary change, but a lifestyle change and a drastic one at that. Initially, it was really tough to deal with the cravings. The decision tested my will power and I am happy that I succeeded.”