Nyra Banerjee, the new girl on the block, says she wasn’t worried about playing second fiddle to a hot shot like Sunny Leone in her debut movie, One Night Stand. She says their roles were distinct and she was never worried about being overshadowed by the actress. When she auditioned for this part, she was selected within a day. She did have some reservations because of the film’s bold title but since it had already been selected, she agreed to go over the script.
She liked how they had decided to tell the story from the female’s point of view when it comes to gender equality, infidelity in marriage and one night stands. The movie is directed by Jasmine D’Souza and stars Tanuj Virwani alongside both leading ladies.
Simran, Nyra’s character, was independent and modern. But she was also homely and simple. She had to portray a number of emotions. She does not believe in a perfect role. Instead, she welcomes all opportunities which make her use her skills. One Night Stand was one such role.
Even though she worked in this movie, she doesn’t endorse the idea of one night stands. She does have a sweet tooth and enjoyed filming the movie because of the young team that made shooting enjoyable. She used to demand sweets or pastries and make the assistant directors drink bitter gourd juice if they made her wait. There were loads of sweets kept aside just for her on the set. She even got a blueberry cheesecake and some chocolate ice-cream from one of the assistant directors once.
There were a number of bedroom scenes and Nyra was uncomfortable in every one. She was nervous because of the crew all around her. It scared her. She was worried her mother would kick her out of her house. The hectic schedule just made things worse. She was shooting those scenes at night and then traveling to Bangalore to shoot for Tiger, her Kannada film in the morning. Alcohol was what helped her. She was inebriated during the intimate scene. And then it was nimbu paani in the morning to help her be ready for the early morning shoot in Bangalore.
She says she didn’t really want to be an actress. She even studied law for 5 years in Mumbai. She considered various other vocations apart from acting. She may have been a singer too. She did pick up ghazals, bhajans, film songs, English songs, etc. from her mother. She also likes to dance. She feels it is her Bengali roots that cause her to love music so much. Since she was born into a Bengali family, dance, music and painting were an important part of her life since childhood. Even though she was born in Mumbai, she spent her childhood in port Blair, Delhi and Kolkata. This is because her father was a part of the Indian Navy. Her mother was a novelist.
Like any girl her age, she had a major crush on Salman Khan. Even today, she isn’t ashamed to admit that he is her childhood love. She also admitted that she admires her co-star, Sunny Leone’s perseverance. Priyanka Chopra is another one of her role models for all her hard work and hunger for achieving more. Initially, she was worried that she wouldn’t make it in Bollywood, just like any new comer. There was a feeling of joy and inhibitions as well as the fear of the unknown initially. But it all settled down gradually.
She is much more confident about her art nowadays. She is ready to begin shooting for her next movie Ram Bhai by Govind Sakariya. The movie also has Sharman Joshi, Rajpal Yadav and Prem Chopra starring alongside her.
