New Cadbury girl Nimrat Kaur is making waves in Bollywood

“I was actually asked to tone down the licking and looks in the ad,” says Nimrat Kaur with a chuckle,who is slowly becoming someone to look out for in Bollywood.

After playing the female lead in the Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer The Lunchbox,she was praised by critics for her performance.

Filmmaker Karan Johar tweeted about the film,”Nimrat Kaur is the soul of LUNCHBOX…projecting marital angst…urban depression and longing for love like a legend actor.”

Nimrat Kaur also received a terrific introduction at Semaine De La Critique (The International Critics Week) at Cannes this May.

“I am flattered by these reactions. I was introduced as the modern day Charulata,Sharmila Tagore and Madhubala,” says the 31-year old,tucking into a chicken sandwich at a bistro in Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village.

This was her second consecutive outing at Cannes,the earlier one being Vasan Bala’s Peddlers (2012).

In The Lunchbox,her first major role,Nimrat Kaur portrays the role of a doting housewife (Ila) who is trying to steal her husband’s attention by packing tasty meals for lunch. One day his tiffin mistakenly gets delivered to someone else. Realising the error,she packs in an apology note in the lunchbox next day and pours out her frustrations as a housewife to the perfect stranger.

Nimrat Kaur admits it was the script that excited her. “I did not know Nawaz and Irrfan would be in the film. After reading the script I wanted to be in the film,no matter what,” she says.

“Besides the fact that I like cooking,there is no resemblance with my character. But I am a sucker for romantic stories,unrequited love or things that don’t happen exactly as planned,” adds this die-hard Madhuri Dixit fan,who,as a kid,imitated Madhuri from the Lux soap commercial.

Nimrat Kaur’s journey to Mumbai has more or less mirrored her childhood fascination for Bollywood. “I like to believe in the magic of life. If you lead your life in a certain way,there is a bigger design,” she says.

Brought up in Delhi by her mother,after her father passed away when she was very young,she moved to Mumbai to pursue her love for “performing arts” after graduating in Commerce from Sri Ram College of Commerce.

“To become an actor,I knew Mumbai was the place. I did not have a plan B. This is what I wanted from the start,to be able to act,to live different lives,” says Nimrat Kaur,who lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Santacruz with her two cats — Kit Kat and Karamchand.

It was commercials and theatre that cushioned her,before she entered Bollywood.

Over 85 auditions for commercials and three months later,Nimrat Kaur got her first campaign with Asian Paints. And then came commercials with Kaya Skin Clinic and Aircel 3G; besides a music video for Kumar Sanu and Shreya Ghoshal’s Tere Mera Pyaar. “Things started shaping up for me then,” she claims.

Nimrat Kaur never charted her course in acting. But knew early on that TV was not for her.

“Being in Mumbai,feature films are not something you can pin your hopes on. But TV was not for me since I did not want to tie myself down to 27 days of continuous work,” explains Nimrat Kaur.

Not having signed any projects,Nimrat Kaur is realistic about her role in cinema.

“I don’t carry any past baggage with me. I am not in a space where stardom is a problem. I am here to be able to experiment and directors who want to cast me will see that,” she says.