‘I’ve been lucky that I haven’t faced racial discrimination’
Nimrat Kaur who has been part of TV shows in the West, says that though it exists in some parts, she has been fortunate to have escaped racism
We are only carrying on a legacy. It’s not like we haven’t had Indian actors working in the West earlier.
NIMRAT KAUR, ACTOR
Nimrat Kaur, who shot to fame with The Lunchbox (2013), became an overnight sensation with her breakthrough role in the fourth season of American television series, Homeland. Shortly after that, she starred in another American series, Wayward Pines. Despite her acclaimed work in TV shows, Nimrat is yet to sign a Hollywood film. “I do have Hollywood offers, but it is a matter of what I ultimately like. There are things on the table; all I need to do is pick my roles. I only want to do roles that grab my attention,” she says.
While a lot of Bollywood actors have been heading to the West, the Airlift (2016) actor says that this isn’t a new phenomenon as is being pointed out by everyone. “Over the years, we have had actors such as Om Puri, Saeed Jaffrey and many others who have worked in the West. We are only carrying on a legacy. It’s not like we haven’t had Indian actors working in the West earlier,” she says. Also, with stories of racism against Indian actors being shared, Nimrat says that she has been fortunate to have never faced it. “I have been extremely lucky to have never faced racial discrimination in the West. I know it does exist in different forms, but I haven’t faced any bias on the basis of my ethnicity or skin colour,” says Nimrat.
Though films will always be her mainstay, Nimrat has just finished shooting for her next project, a web series, The Test Case, on the first woman to be trained to serve as a combatant in the armed forces. Nimrat says joining the Army was her childhood dream, as her father was an officer in the Army.
“I was really enamoured by the army life and I was pretty sure I would join the army. Of course, when I grew up, I realised that behind that uniform and that life, there was a lot of hard work. Working on the show has been the most physically strenuous, yet an extremely rewarding process. I’ve been training for the show since December and now, I feel like a new person. When I wore the uniform, it was not just another costume for me. It was important for me to bring a lot of integrity to the role,” she explains.