‘The Way We Express Love Has Changed’

‘We
are
the
kids
from
the
’90s
who
have
grown
up
watching
Shah
Rukh
Khan
and
Kajol
romancing
on

Suraj
Hua
Maddham.’
‘We
are
also
the
same
people
who
text
our
partner
and
tell
them,
‘I
am
breaking
up
with
you’.’

Last
seen
in
Netflix’s
hit
series

Mamla
Legal
Hai,

Naila
Grrewal
is
now
eagerly
anticipating
the
release
of

Ishq
Vishk
Rebound.

Her
journey
has
been
filled
with
numerous
auditions
and
rejections
but
she
believes
it
was
all
worth
it
in
the
end.

“One
should
never
fear
rejections.
Braving
rejections
can
make
you
a
Manoj
Bajpayee
or
a
Shah
Rukh
Khan
one
day,”
Naila
tells



Rediff.com
Contributor

Mohnish
Singh.

Ishq
Vishk
enjoys
a
great
fan
base.
Do
you
worry
if
the
audience
would
accept
the
new
film?

I
don’t
think
I
signed
the
film
with
any
baggage.

When
four
of
us
(including
fellow
cast
members
Pashmina
Roshan,
Rohit
Saraf
and
Jibraan
Khan)
came
together
to
became
part
of

Ishq
Vishk
Rebound,
we
thought
there
was
no
point
in
having
any
pressure
of
the
previous
film.

At
least
I
wanted
to
look
at
it
with
a
fresh
perspective
because
the
world
has
changed
completely.

Today’s
audience
has
changed.

The
way
we
express
love
has
changed.

The
acceptance
of
love
has
changed.

Had
I
kept

Ishq
Vishk
in
mind
while
working
on

Ishq
Vishk
Rebound,
I
would
have
messed
up.

Our
intention
has
never
been
to
emulate
the
previous
film.
We
have
made
a
completely
new
film
for
the
audience
to
enjoy.

What
is
your
idea
of
love?

I
feel
our
generation
is
stuck
between
two
worlds.

We
are
the
kids
from
the
’90s
who
have
grown
up
watching
Shah
Rukh
Khan
and
Kajol
romancing
on

Suraj
Hua
Maddham.

At
the
same
time,
we
are
also
the
same
people
who
text
our
partner
and
tell
them,
‘I
am
breaking
up
with
you.’

Gen
Z’s
way
of
expressing
and
emoting
love
is
different.

We
are
constantly
swiping
left
and
right
on
dating
apps.

I
can
send
you
a
Snapchat
and
break
up
with
you.

Having
said
that,
I
strongly
believe
that
most
of
us
still
gravitate
more
towards
the
’90s’
love.

I
am
looking
for
that
someone
who
stays
by
my
side
throughout,
someone
I
can
grow
old
with.

I
still
want
my

sari‘s

pallu
to
wave
in
the
breeze
and
my
man
walks
up
to
me
in
slow
motion.

From
being
an
outsider
to
working
on
a
film
like

Ishq
Vishk
Rebound,
how
has
the
journey
been
so
far?

It’s
been
very
challenging.

I
am
from
Delhi.
Whatever
work
I
got
in
the
beginning,
right
from

Tamasha
(2015),
I
got
while
in
Delhi.

I
was
studying
at
LSR
(Lady
Sri
Ram
College,
Delhi
University)
and
I
would
participate
in
stage
plays
and
street
plays.

So
I
was
doing
this
play
and
in
the
crowd
was
someone
from
the
casting
team
of

Tamasha.

After
the
play
ended,
he
walked
up
to
me
and
said,
‘There
is
a
film
by
Imtiaz
Ali
and
you
have
to
do
a
part
alongside
Ranbir
Kapoor.’

I
was
on
cloud
nine.

Though
it
was
a
brief
role,
I
got
to
learn
a
lot
on
the
sets.

I
realised
that
if
I
really
wanted
to
start
a
career
in
acting,
I
have
to
work
really,
really
hard.

Later,
I
bagged
a
cameo
alongside
Ayushmann
Khurrana
in

Bareilly
Ki
Barfi.

Since
I
was
still
in
college,
I
was
not
getting
meaty
parts.

I
think
my
meatiest
part
was
in
Anubhav
Sinha’s

Thappad.

He
made
sure
that
each
and
every
character
had
their
own
character
arc;
it
was
not
just
about
Taapsee
Pannu.

Coming
to
your
question,
the
challenges,
of
course,
are
many.

I
have
faced
rejections
every
second
day.
Initially,
I
had
no
idea
how
to
deal
with
rejections.

I
had
to
tune
my
mind
to
understand
that
if
I
wanted
to
be
in
this
business,
I
needed
to
know
how
to
deal
with
rejections.

If
you
don’t
know
how
to
deal
with
failures,
you
won’t
ever
know
how
to
deal
with
success.

I
started
telling
my
mind
that
it’s
not
me,
sometimes
the
vision
of
a
maker
is
different
and
you
don’t
align
with
that
vision.

No
matter
how
good
of
an
actor
you
are,
if
your
personality
does
not
align
with
the
vision
that
the
director
has
in
his
mind,
it
is
not
going
to
work
out
for
you.

It
took
me
a
long
time
to
get
to
the
point
where
I
stopped
doubting
myself
every
time
I
would
give
an
audition.

Do
you
ever
bother
about
your
screentime
in
a
project?

I
think
whatever
work
you
get,
irrespective
of
its
length,
give
your
best
to
it.

I
did
the
same
in

Thappad
and
in

Mamla
Legal
Hai.
Similarly,
with

Ishq
Vishk
Rebound.

Your
job
as
an
actor
is
to
bring
authenticity
to
your
character.

Whether
it
is
a
10
minute
role
in
a
film
or
the
entire
film,
you
have
to
add
your
own
flavour
to
it
so
that
the
audience
says,
‘Waah,
mazaa
aa
gaya.’

Is
there
any
actor
whose
journey
really
inspired
you?

Manoj
Bajpayee.

Since
we
are
talking
about
struggles,
let
me
share
a
fascinating
story
about
Manoj
sir.

He
used
to
sit
for
NSD’s
(National
School
of
Drama)
entrance
exam
every
year
and
would
fail
each
time.

Meanwhile,
he
kept
doing
plays
side
by
side.

By
the
time,
he
sat
for
the
exam
fifth
or
sixth
time,
he
was
so
experienced
that
one
of
the
professors
told
him
to
become
an
assistant
professor
at
the
institute.

So
I
believe,
one
should
never
fear
rejections.

Braving
rejections
can
make
you
a
Manoj
Bajpayee
or
a
Shah
Rukh
Khan
one
day.

How
important
is
to
have
a
thick
skin
if
you
want
to
work
in
show
business?

That’s
very
important
if
you
want
to
survive
in
this
industry
because
you
will
find
all
sorts
of
people
here
—
people
who
will
put
you
on
a
pedestal
and
people
who
will
pull
you
down.

Anybody
writes
anything
anywhere,
and
that
may
affect
you
in
many
ways.

You
should
be
so
thick-skinned
that
it
should
not
affect
you,
if
someday
anybody
is
calling
you
Madhuri
Dixit
or
treating
you
as
nothing.

You
have
to
be
so
level
headed
that
all
that
matters
to
you
is
your
work
and
your
performance.