Nikita Dutta was last seen in Bosco Martis's directorial debut Rocket Gang opposite Aditya Seal. The actress will soon be seen in Bejoy Nambiar’s Dange which is slated to release in cinemas on March 1, 2024. In an exclusive chat with The Free Press Journal, the actress talks about her not-so-rosy career, her desire to do action, her box office failures and more. Excerpts:
How it feels to experience a theatrical release after doing a series of films on OTT?
When Kabir Singh was released in 2019, it was loved by the people and also made a lot of money.
It gave me a lot and my career picked up from there. In the beginning of 2020, I literally had 5 films in pipeline, out of which four of them were supposed to come out in the theatres. But, it was unfortunate that Covid happened and Bigg Bull and Dybbuk came on OTT, Rocket Gang was pushed to two years and one got shelved.
Go on…
There is a lot of contentment that good things are coming now starting with Dange which is a theatrical. As an actor, I love cinema and want to see more of me on a big screen.
Were you taken aback with your initial career?
I wasn’t to be honest. For example, Rocket Gang might have not done well at the box office but I learned dancing while shooting for it. I worked on the film for three long years and had so many injuries. For a fact, today I know that I am not a bad dancer or a non-dancer only because of Rocket Gang. My take back was the skill I learnt and not the box office numbers.
Do you feel secure with your roles in a male dominated industry?
I came from Miss India where everyone was fighting for oneself. I never thought that I would be less than anyone. I am happy where I am but also very critical at the same time. I am glad that female oriented films are working now. Even in Dange, there’s a lot of substance to my character. It is good that such kind of roles are being written and came my way.
Do you feel that a film like Dange which is a campus-drama would have not been made for theatres since OTT has changed the storytelling?
Dange could have been a little problematic if it would have come out 4-5 years ago perhaps. OTT has opened so many doors and makers are taking bigger risks with the content. Even Pathaan, Jawan have reopened theatres in a big way. However, because of OTT people have become lazy.
Does Dange have any similarities to Shah Rukh Khan’s Josh?
It is needless to say that how much we all love Josh, but people will see the same rush that Josh had in Dange too in a very today’s way. It is certainly a seat edge drama. In fact, I wanted to do action sequences in a film like Dange but unfortunately I had no action to do in it.
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