Anurag said to Kubbra: ‘I have heard of you. You act, right?’

The current buzz around actor Kubbra Sait is yet another bit of proof that the Internet is the new platform from where stars are emerging.

Kubbra has made some jaws drop with her portrayal of a transgender woman in the new web series, Sacred Games, in which she co-stars with actors such as Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Saif Ali Khan. That’s quite a move up from her past two proper Bollywood outings — in the role of a maid in Salman Khan’s comedy Ready (2011); and as herself, playing a show anchor, in Salman Khan’s Sultan (2016).

Surprisingly, Kubbra never took acting seriously. She says, “I didn’t think acting would be a lucrative career. I started playing small roles, but it’s the stage that I enjoy the most, as that’s where I can entertain people.”

But that began changing last year. She says, “I actually felt like, ‘Wow! This is a very joyous profession to be in.’ It took me seven years to even comfortably say that I’m an actor.” On how she bagged the role of the trans woman Kuckoo in the Anurag Kashyap-directed web series, Kubbra reveals, “I was recommended to Anurag, and literally three days after this, we both were there on the red carpet of the MAMI film festival (in Mumbai), where (Anurag’s film) Mukkabaaz was playing. I skipped a heartbeat when he walked up to me and said, ‘Tere baare mein suna hai. You act, right? Let’s do one thing. You will get a call from the casting office. Go and just audition.’ That’s where it started, and eight days later, I was finalised. Another four days after that, I started shooting! That was my turnaround time to play this role! It still leaves me baffled.”

What’s even more baffling is how easily Kubbra killed the competition. “I’ve been told that there’s a fantastic actor, whose name I don’t know, who prepared for the role for two months, whereas I got the role in eight days. It’s not an easy profession to be in,” she says.

Was she okay with the bold, frontal nudity scenes? “As an actor, none of that should bother you. My only roadblock would be if I wasn’t able to convince you that I am that person,” she signs off.

Actor Kubbra Sait plays a trans woman (inset) in a web series