'Acting doesn't have a language'

In conversation

Be it acting, modelling, theatre performances or sports, she has made a name for herself in each of these fields.

  Actor Neetu Chandra, who stepped into Bollywood with the comedy flick ‘Garam Masala’ in 2005, is a trained classical dancer, a basketball player and a blackbelt in taekwondo apart from a successful actor and a theatre artiste. 

In a chat with Surupasree Sarmmah, the actor talks about her motivation, the turning point in her life and more.

You are a girl of many talents. What has been your motivation behind everything?

I have been involved with various activities since a very young age. I got into sports and taekwondo when I was three years old and since then, I inculcated the habit of putting my best in whatever I do.

As I grew up, I developed a sense of accomplishment — from participating in cultural programmes and basketball in school to doing theatre later and then acting in movies. The motivation, perhaps, is my ability to excel in whatever I do. Above all, my mother plays a very important role in my life.

You have been into sports since childhood. How did you get into acting?

In India, sports is one thing that doesn’t earn one a living  or a position that they deserve, expect for a few games that everyone knows. Even today, I don’t think one can choose sports as a career option and enjoy a dignified position, like a person from a BSc background or similar fields. I realised that nothing was moving forward even after representing India three times at the ‘International Taekwondo Championships’. At that time, I got an opportunity for modelling and acting so I gave it a shot and things took off from there.

You have worked in a Telugu as well as a Greek movie. How difficult is it to do a movie in a language that you are not familiar with?

It is difficult, but I believe acting doesn’t have a language. I choose a movie based on the script and not language.

If you were to choose between being an actor, a theatre artiste or a sportsperson, what would it be?

I am all of them, but if I have to choose one, it has to be an actor. By being an actor, I can be the other two as well. Acting gives me everything.

The turning point in your life...

The day I started doing theatre and started saying ‘no’ to scripts that I couldn’t convince myself to do. I consider this as a turning point as I realised that people started taking me more seriously and understood that quality matters to me.

Among the films that you have done, which is your favourite?

‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!’ is my favourite.
 
One of the most challenging films...

It has to be the Tamil film ‘Aadhi Bhagavan’ by director Ameer.  

Five things one can find in your handbag...

Phone, perfume, hand sanitiser, wallet and my small makeup kit.

Projects in the pipeline...
I have ‘Singam 3’ coming up and ‘Mithila Makhaan’ releasing soon.
 Apart from this, ‘Shooter’ and ‘Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot’ are also in the pipeline. I am the brand ambassador for taekwondo of India this year.