Neetu Chandra: Indian actors now have a global stage

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

After 2010 film Rann, you kind of disappeared from Hindi films. Are you now planning to make a comeback?

After that also I did two films, Shooter with Randeep Hooda and Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot with Paresh Rawal, but these films haven’t released yet, and I don’t know what’s happening with them either. And then my father passed away, and I stopped for two-three years because my mother was not keeping well.

Then, I started doing theatre. I have been doing Umrao Jaan for four-five years now, and I started enjoying being on stage for those two hours, and I didn’t want to pick up anything and everything. I have started producing also through my production house Champaran Talkies along with my brother, and we got the first ever National Award for Bihar for our film Mithila Makhaan.

Then I did a Greek film called Block 12, the promos are on YouTube. It is quite an interesting film. And now I am doing a Korean series. I am based out of Los Angeles, but working everywhere. I am working in India also.

What can you tell us about the Korean TV series Narae, and other international projects you are picking up?

For me, now, quality really matters. I am the first Indian actor to do something in the Korean and Greek entertainment industry. I also did a video for Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Rekha Bhardwaj and Payal Dev. So, I kept picking quality stuff and kept working towards myself. Today, the world is a platform and I call myself a global actor. You can work anywhere where the script demands.

There are reports that you will be doing Mindy Kaling’s biopic.

I cannot talk much about Mindy Kaling project right now. But, I have given a look test and I found the script very interesting. She deserves to have a biopic on her, and Netflix is doing it. Coming from Hindi film background, and I have also Tamil films, so my accent and everything was what was required and hence I was asked to audition for it.

The Worst Day is also very interesting. It has been a learning experience for me because it’s my first ever negative role. She is wild, she is interesting and she is the villain. It was great working with Marietta Melrose and Jose Moreno.

Apart from being an actor, you are also associated with NBA Basketball.

Sports has been my lifestyle always. Since childhood, I have been playing Basketball and Taekwondo. I have been associated with the NBA since the time they entered India in 2009. NBA has been coaching the coaches, not students here, with proper techniques and facilities, that’s how Basketball has picked up in India in the last decade. In a country like India, where sports facilities are lesser, it is a great initiative. I feel students should be encouraged to take up sports much earlier in life, and it should be done globally because sports don’t have a language.