Nora Fatehi recalls being rejected by Yash Raj Films, was told she’s ‘not that good’: ‘When those movies flopped…’

Nora Fatehi also spoke about the "victim mentality" of outsiders in Bollywood, and said that she doesn't subscribe to it.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | Updated: November 1, 2024 11:55 AM IST

3 min read

Nora Fatehi is a Canadian dancer who's made a place for herself in Bollywood. (Photo: Nora Fatehi/ Instagram)

Bollywood actor and dancer Nora Fatehi, who was last seen in the comedy film Madgaon Express, looked back on her challenging path to stardom. She recently opened up about her journey, which brought her from Canada to the pinnacle of popularity in the Indian film industry. Nora also shared her experiences with rejection and how she overcame them.

Recalling a particularly disappointing audition, Nora said in an interview with former film critic Rajeev Masand at the Indian Festival of Melbourne, “I remember once I went for an audition. This was for a Yash Raj Films. I really spent weeks mugging the lines… I was like, ‘I killed it’. They didn’t call me back, the feedback was, ‘She is not that good’. I remember hearing that… I just broke my cellphone, shattering it into pieces in anger.”

That moment of frustration served as a turning point for Nora. She realised the importance of letting go and trusting the timing of her success. “Everyone has their time, and when that time comes, all the doors are going to open. But if I keep forcing doors that are not meant to be open for me then it’s not going to help me.” Nora said that in hindsight, she understood that she was overreacting to the rejection, as the projects that she was turned down for didn’t do all that well. “When those movies released, they flopped, or they were disastrous projects, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, did I cry for that project? I broke my phone for that film?’ That (film) could have destroyed my non-existing career. So I learnt to let go.”

Also read | Nora Fatehi says she ‘developed a thicker skin’ to survive in Bollywood: ‘I can’t allow the industry to break me’

Nora also spoke about the dangers of having a victim mentality as an outsider in the industry. “Sometimes, when we are outsiders, it happens to me too, we have victim mentality, ‘you know I am an outsider…’, it is easy to fall into that.” However, Nora’s approach has been to focus on self-improvement and persistence. “But if you come out of the victim mentality and you put more of your energy into improving yourself, trust me, if they say no to you four times, the fifth time they’ll say yes because your persistence makes them go, ‘Who’s this girl, how is she so confident?’ It’s helped me.”

Today, Nora’s confidence and determination have paid off, with Madgaon Express receiving widespread acclaim and her music videos attracting billions of views. Her journey serves as a testament to the power of perseverance and hard work in overcoming adversity. She is now working on Remo D’Souza’s Dancing Dad, with Abhishek Bachchan, and the Malayalam film Matka.

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