I owe my career to my hard work: Aahana Kumra

Khuda Haafiz star talks about her journey in filmdom

Aahana Kumra is making waves with her roles in films such as Lipstick Under My Burkha, and web series like Marzi and Betal. She debuted in TV shows with Yudh, acting alongside none other than Amitabh Bachchan and Agent Raghav — Crime Branch, with Sharad Kelkar. Khuda Haafiz and How To Kill Your Husband are her two latest films. Aahana attributes her rise in the world of films to her hard work.

“I worked on my own terms and have made my mark literally on my own. I think I owe my career to my own hard work. I am a trained actor,” says Aahana. “I went to Whistling Woods. I am privileged to have worked and learned from Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Kenneth Desai and Makarand Deshpande. I dedicated a lot of years to theatre. I consider Makarand Deshpande and Naseer Sir as my mentors,” she adds.

It’s a little-known fact that Aahana started her career in the casting department. “I was working as a casting assistant under Shanoo Sharma for My Name Is Khan under the YRF label,” she reveals, adding, “My first film was Blueberry Hunt, shot in Vagamon with Naseer Sir. Unfortunately, this film was released after many years and flopped.”

Asked why she was not cast in any YRF film, the actress says no one had asked her to audition for any part.

Aahana is candid about her confusions regarding selection of projects. She cites the latest ones — Khuda Haafiz, directed by Faruk Kabir, and How To Kill Your Husband directed by Akhilesh Jaiswal as examples.

The audition of Khuda Haafiz was very tough,” she says.

“When I was offered the role, I was told that I would have to audition in Arabic. I did not know the language. I was also told that the shooting was to happen in Uzbekistan and we would have to give two months to the project. In the meanwhile, I was offered How to kill Your Husband. This film was to be shot in London for one month. The role was of chubby, bubbly girl and it had a touch of comedy. So I gave my nod for that.”

However, destiny intervened. Aahana contracted Dengue and lost about four kilos. The director of How To Kill Your Husband said he wanted only a chubby girl for the part. Aahana was suddenly left with no job openings.

That was when the Khuda Haafiz director called her and offered her the role again. “As I was desperately looking for work and I was facing a vacuum, I agreed,” said Aahana. And then a miracle happened, she recalls. “I got a call from the makers of How To Kill Your Husband, asking me if I would like to take up the role. The universe showered its blessings on me, I finally did both the films. It was tough shuttling from Uzbekistan to London, but all went well.”

On working with Faruk Kabir, the actress says it was ‘interesting’. She had to wear a hijab and speak Arabic. Explaining that it was her first ‘masala film’, she said she had to do a bit of action too, “Something I never thought I would be able to pull off so well.” Aahana took training for action and Arabic diction, and “To my surprise, I was able to do hand-tohand combat in the film,” she adds.

Talking of the future, Aahana says, “I am doing a series directed by Rohan Sippy for SonyLive. We will soon be starting our workshops. We are beginning the rehearsals on Zoom from home. This is taking me to a different space. I have always done hardcore films. It’s nice to break away from what you have been doing. Soon, we will begin shooting. I am scared because of COVID-19, but we shall be taking all precautions. I have a staff who need to be paid.”

“I worked on my own terms and have made my mark literally on my own. I think I owe my career to my own hard work. I am a trained actor —Aahana Kumra