Journey after Mirzya was not easy for Saiyami Kher

Walking past the failure of her debut film Mirzya was not at all easy for Saiyami Kher, but she didn't lose belief in herself or her calibre. The actress says the testing time taught her to be patient and keep looking forward.

“With Mirzya, it was a dream launch, and unfortunately it didn't do ver y well at the box office. The journey af ter that was not easy at all because with Mirzya I got such a meaty character. The offers that came to me were not ver y exciting, and there was nothing very new about the stuff that came to me. People were not considering me for the stuff that I would have liked to do, as my film didn't do ver y well at the box office,’ Saiyami said.

“It was a ver y testing time. I come from a sporting background, and that background helped me to just keep going. Also, something that Akshay sir said had stayed with me. He said ‘ kaamsekaammiltahai’, she added.

The 2016 film, which also marked the debut of Anil Kapoor ’s son Harshvardhan, failed to have a successful affair at the box office. Af ter the failure, Saiyami followed her instinct. “I kind of just waited to pick on things which interest me. That’s when Riteish Deshmukh offered me a Marathi movie Mauli, and I did it. It was a new experience and it did well. Then I got an Amazon show called Breathe2... I play a totally different role, unfortunately I can't reveal it right now. But it is a character I never imagined I would play. Then I got to play the role of an undercover agent in SpecialOps,” she added.

Asked how facing a setback initially in her career prepared her for the showbiz journey, Saiyami said, “There are two ways of looking at it. The first is that I have gathered the patience, know how the industry works, how to keep yourself going and keep on working on things you believe in. That has been a big learning. But ever yone wants their film to do well at the box office because then you are offered better things.”

The actress continued, “It is always the toss between the two. If the film had done well at the box office, I would probably be doing more work right now, but I have learnt my lessons. Another thing is that I never lost belief in myself. Lot of people see the glamour and glitzy world of showbiz, but don’t see the struggle and hardship behind that. I was fortunate that right af ter Mirzya, Mani Ratnam signed me for a film. Unfortunately, it didn’t take off because the male actor walked out. Then I got to do projects with Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Pandey,” she added.

Apart from her big screen stor y, Saiyami is exploring the digital world. She is glad that digital platforms have opened many new avenues for actors. “OTT is the future. Many big actors are coming onto it, big filmmakers are making projects for the platforms and they have really well written female characters. That doesn’t happen in films where girls don’t have a lot to do, but in OTT projects girls are driving them. It’s an added advantage,” she said. “There’s no box office pressure. The shelf life of female actors has increased thanks to OTT platforms,” added the actress. —IANS