‘I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING FOR SO LONG, 2021 IS GOING TO BE MY YEAR’

Amyra Dastur shares she has been turning down roles for the first time in her career, due to lack of dates

The past year turned out to be a quite a dud for everyone in the entertainment industry, but Amyra Dastur is not really complaining. The actor calls herself “rather fortunate” to have bagged quite a lot of work despite the pandemic. “I feel grateful that during the pandemic, I got some great work and brands, and for me, the ball was always rolling. Thankfully, even despite the situation, none of my projects got stalled...,” shares Dastur, who made her Bollywood debut with Issaq (2013).

The 27-year-old has a jampacked 2021 as well, with a couple of south films, a Hindi film and two web series. “Isn’t it just great that I have projects coming out... finally! I’ve been struggling for so long and this is the busiest point in my career. I feel 2021 is going to be my year. I don’t care that I only get to sleep for five-six hours in a day. I am just happy that I am busy,” she gushes.

There are indeed a lot of firsts for her, which she excitedly talks about. “For the first time in my career, I’ve been turning down roles because I don’t have dates. I’m sorry for the roles I’ve turned down, but it’s amazing,” she shares.

For Dastur, who was last seen on the big screen in Made in China (2019), the challenge now is to keep the momentum going, and she feels she’s on the right path after making a few tweaks to the way she approaches work. “I started very young, made the right contacts when it comes to agencies and casting directors. People have started approaching me directly now. It’s insane how everything is coming to me, and not via someone. That has made a lot of difference to my career. I think a lot of things kind of got lost in translation and was not communicated,” she shares, adding that taking the reins of her career in her own hands has changed things. She explains, “Handling things on my own, speaking to directors and producers on my own has made a lot of difference. People prefer a oneon-one kind of relationship with an actor.”

Handling things on my own and speaking to directors and producers directly has made a lot of difference. AMYRA DASTUR,

Actor