Actor Harshita Gaur recently joined NewsX for an exclusive interview as part of its special series NewsX India A-List. Best known for her roles in the Channel V’s TV show ‘Sadda Haq’ and Amazon prime series Mirzapur & Mirzapur 2, Harshita shared with us her journey so far in the industry and her insights.
Harshita Gaur was seen reprising the role of Dimpi Pandit in the hinterland dark-crime drama series, Mirzapur 2 and earned many critical acclaims for her character. Talking about post-Mirzapur success and how does it feel Harshita said “Obviously things have changed, and especially it has been overwhelming when people come to you and they also recognize you from like your character now and mention how much they like the show. Individually also they talk about your performance and it’s just too overwhelming.”
Sharing with us how the journey been from being a trained Kathak Dancer and Engineer to now being a very successful actor, Hashita told us “When I was growing up I was a dancer but not professionally and engineer again by qualification. I’ve only been an actor professionally. But the journey has been interesting because I come from a background of doctors. They were a little sceptical initially, but then now, I was lucky enough to start with a show and the moment I was in Mumbai I had a show that went on for a long time. It was good and I appreciate it and after that, it’s still ongoing. Anything that people experienced before they get their first project I experienced those after I got my first project.”
From TV to Web, Hashita has acted on a couple of shows and she further shared with us if any Bollywood films in line next and her views on OTT platforms and its popularity. “I see a lot of Bollywood actors coming to web series. Maybe Web has taken that space and people would want to move to project basis like if I just talk about myself I wanted to move to project basis. OTT played a huge part because then suddenly, it opens doors to many actors, many projects, many directors. Everybody like this field and it has a lot more to do. At the same time, the web is really accessible and people now want to really watch the good content. Even when it comes to films, they would want to go to a film and spend money, only if they feel that they really want to see that content.”
“When we are talking about Bollywood it’s mainly talking about films and people going to watch it. It’s obviously a dream because community watching on a 70 mm screen is an experience in itself. One cannot take away the fact from films and it is appealing,” Harshita added.
One thing which is much debated when it comes to the entertainment industry at large is nepotism and the entire debate around nepotism. Harshita in the conversation had put forward her opinions on it. “I have absolutely no opinion on it. I just feel that it exists, and it exists everywhere. For example, I come from a family of doctors. If my father had a hospital and he wanted me to be a doctor. It would be easier for me to work in that hospital tan anybody else coming into that hospital. It’s just people who are born with advantages and sometimes I empathize with the star kids who want to make their own way out.”
On the other hand for outsiders again I’m also considering the hard work that people like us, who knew on one from the industry have to face all these things. That’s how things were always for me. So I just need to be happy when I’m doing a show and keep my aspirations high and keep working towards it. That’s the only thing. If you take undue advantage of nepotism and people who are in positions of power to give you work for them where it becomes deciding criteria that we need to give these people work and not others I think that shouldn’t happen but actually, I can hope it shouldn’t happen that way.
On a concluding note, Harshita shared with our viewers about the kinds of projects she will be looking at for working on and also if there is a director that she would love to work with on the big screen. “I cannot talk about anything right now by 2021 looks really good. I would absolutely love to work with everyone. I think two of my most favourite directors that I would want to work on is Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap. I just absolutely love her though I’ve done Sacred Games with Anurag Kashyap but that was a very small part but would love to work with him again like on a bigger project and yes, the list goes on.”
