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While growing up in my village Handaur, Pratapgarh, I was a restless, sensitive kid. It was a chaotic childhood after we lost our younger brother. My father took VRS from the Army, and we moved from Jabalpur to our village, where I spent my formative years. Too much was happening, and I felt more than any normal kid. It led me to notice the human emotions up close. You know, people believe that ‘Sometimes the most beautiful art comes from chaos.’ And I feel my chaotic childhood is somehow the reason I’m an artist.
Initially, I wasn’t confident about it. I read in a Hindi medium school till the eighth class. After that, my father enrolled me in Kendriya Vidyalaya. And, one day, my teacher asked me, ‘Bade ho kar kya ban na hai?’ I replied, ‘Actor’. To which she asked my favourite actor. ‘Naseeruddin Saah’, I replied, and the entire class laughed. I couldn’t understand their strange reaction. It’s ‘Shah’, not ‘Saah’, the teacher corrected my mispronunciation sarcastically. Low on confidence, I gave up on my acting aspirations at that moment but pledged to work hard on my speaking skills. I took part in extempores, debates and plays and won as well.
After twelfth, I went to Amity University. Even though our financial conditions were not good, somehow, my father enrolled me there. I knew about it. So, I studied hard, got the scholarship in my second year, and simultaneously started working. I volunteered for the production department for the Commonwealth Games 2010 and won Miss Fresh Face of UP, Uttarakhand. I used the prize money for my college expenses. I used to give tuition, do basic embroidery work for export-import companies to support my expenses and help my family. I participated in the drama society in college and became a kind of in-house heroine for my college. I was among the few students selected in Balaji for the campus placement, aiding the foundation for my journey as a professional artist."
I have had an extraordinary life. Everything that was happening was like a dream and sometimes a nightmare! Opportunities, learnings, losses, gains, heartbreaks, everything was happening. Simultaneously, I lost my father in October 2020, and the very next day, my elder brother passed away from cardiac arrest. It didn't feel real to sail over the painful memories of the men of our house. But life goes on. I regrouped my emotions and started working on Siya as a Creative Producer and co-writer along with Manish Mundra, who directed the film. He really supported and motivated me to take up my direction career. And I feel Manish Mudra was a friend I really needed in those tough times. I had always hoped to make my film and tell stories in my voice. I have so much to share, so I take every opportunity to tell a story, be it poetry, writing stories, acting, directing, producing etc. And, during Siya’s shooting, I thought, ‘Time has come.’
I got the idea of ‘Nazariya’ during the third wave of COVID-19. I was down with a fever, and suddenly a thought came about miscommunication. It is something that happens to everyone. Maybe the thought came as something similar had happened to me too. But that’s the beauty of creativity! Isn’t it true? Anyway, I instantly wrote the first line - ‘Yeh barf bhi kaise dhikti hai na? Jaise ki badalon ko crush kar ke paharon pe fek diya hai.’ The script was completed in an hour, and we made the film. Luckily, the film went on to many film festivals and won awards, such as the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival - the only Oscar Accredited Festival of India. The film was a finalist at the Film fare Short Films Competition.
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