‘TITAN TVC is very special to me’
Actor Nimrat Kaur who made her film debut with Lunchbox and went to do the TV series Homeland considers herself to be unfashionable as she is always on time
Hello Nimrat. Are you a watch person, do you like wearing them?
Yes, I really love wearing watches, in fact I love collecting watches. I love collecting vintage watches from Chor Bazaar in Mumbai to vintage flea markets in New York or Paris. Wherever I go I look for them.
A watch you have really good memory about?
About 5 or 6 years ago, a friend basically bought a watch from IWC and he got a magazine along with it. And at the end of the magazine there was a contest, you know you had to guess the celebrity. It was the full one page description of the artist and one had to guess it, the artist was Charlie Chaplin. Now my luck with contest is such that I have never even won a balloon in a fair, you know? I have never won anything anywhere. So I was like, “really should I do this?” He said, “Yes, just send it across. What’s there to lose?” So I filled in the details and send it out.
About 10 days later I get a call from someone saying, “Hello, Nimrat… We are calling from Schaffhausen.“ I thought it was some kind of a prank call and disconnected it. They called me again and said:“Listen, please hold on. You’ve won the first prize of a contest you had participated in.” I was like, “What?” And I actually won an IWC Pilot Chronograph which is my prized possession. You won’t believe, just a day before I was telling someone that, “I don’t believe in luck. I don’t think so. We need to work hard.” Within a day I was proved wrong. So I guess, I have exhausted all my luck. But it’s a really-really special story for me and I hold on to that watch with everything.
That’s a wonderful story. Nimrat you’ve done a lot of theatre, TV, films etc. Which has been the easiest one when it comes to time management?
I think it has to be theatre where you work around timelines. So much so that you’re rehearsing for a month and you know you have to open your show on such and such date. If the show is going to start at 7 pm, it will start at 7 pm. My Army background helps me with that. A situation where there are no chances of any delays.
And that’s precisely why you’re always on time.
Yes, I am very, very unfashionable that way. I am always before time. Many a times I have circled around the venue in my car because I have been just there early.
But that’s a really good thing because not a lot of people are on time.
Yeah, I think it’s in my genes. I have my family to blame for that.
You’ve been a part of Titan Raga’s campaign “Khud se Naya Rishta.” Tell us more about it. How was the experience like?
Well, that ad is super special to me. Firstly, I was filming for Homeland then in Capetown and so it was a nightmare for us to figure it out. Thanks to the fantastic efforts of my team we managed to do it. It’s been directed by one of my favourite directors – Vivek Kakkad. He has also directed other ad films that I have worked in. This Titan is very, very dear to me. The concept was brilliant. It’s not about women being aggressive or women being something that they’re not. It’s just about being self-assured and being happy with the choices that one has made. And not having an apologetic stance on things that you’ve decided for yourself. So I think it was a very sweet, self-assured and a very unapologetic space so I really loved that.
Well, we really loved it too.
Thank you.
On a day off, how do you usually like to spend your time? We do know that you love reading and travelling.
I don’t love reading as much as I should. I think I should read a lot more. I end up reading scripts and things like that which isn’t really reading because that’s part of my job. I really enjoy playing with my cats, or I rather enjoy them playing with me. We have a lot of fun. I have two cats at home. I love hanging out with my friends and go for movies, plays and just driving around. I love driving a lot. Even in Mumbai, yes, I do. I don’t keep a driver; I just love to drive on my own.
We also came across this article titled “51 times Indian theatre gifted Bollywood with amazing acting talent” and you were mentioned in the same. So how does it feel to be featured with so many talented actors?
Well, I think it’s a great privilege to be on that list. I think there were some legendary stalwarts on that list and I don’t know if they wanted me to be there. I am just starting out and just one or two films old. But it’s one for keeps and I am really very honoured to be on that list.
