‘Tell bade baap ki beti Zoya Akhtar to Google my name’: Veteran actor rejected Gully Boy role, lost her mind after being asked to audition

Veteran Marathi actor Usha Nadkarni, who has worked in prominent shows such as Pavitra Rishta in her decades-long career, spoke about rejecting a role in Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy because she felt disrespected. In an interview, the veteran actor said that she cannot tolerate being told to audition by people who weren’t even born when she started working. She said that she has been belittled many times, and that she doesn’t have the patience to audition for production houses who can’t do the bare minimum and study her resume before hand.

Recalling her reaction to being asked to audition for Zoya’s film, she said in an interview with Pinkvilla, “There was a movie called Gully Boy, and someone called me in for an audition. I asked him how old he is, he said he’s 25. I told him, ‘I’ve been working for longer than your mother has been alive’. Main aise faaltu kaam karti nahi audition dene ka. I asked who the director is, and he told me. I said, ‘Bade baap ki beti hai na. Mera kaam dekh. Computer pe naam laga mera, phir maalum padega maine kya kya kiya hai (She’s the daughter of a big man, isn’t she. I told him to tell her to look me up, and she’ll know who I am and what I’ve done)’.”

Also read – ‘I spit food on Zoya Akhtar’s hand during shoot,’ reveals Ayesha Raza: ‘She makes you feel held as an actor’

Story continues below this ad

Continuing her rant against young assistants, she said, “These assistant director kids think they’re special. But they can’t string two sentences together. Once, they called me in for another audition, and I reached the location and saw two kids sitting there. They didn’t even have the courtesy to offer me a chair. Their parents didn’t teach them manners. They told me the person I’d come to meet was busy, and handed me a script to read for them. I hurled the script and walked out. These people drive me mad. Saamne waale ki aukaat dekho aur phir bolo audition dene ko. Call me arrogant, but I’m not wrong.”

In her career, Usha Nadkarni has gained immense recognition for her roles in Pavitra Rishta, the numerous shows she’s done for Balaji Telefilms, and the stage productions that have taken her around the world. She most recently appeared in Celebrity MasterChef India. Zoya Akhtar is the daughter of famed writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar. Starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, Gully Boy was a critical and commercial hit. It was selected as India’s official entry to the 2019 Oscars.