Nayan Shukla: No two doubts being an insider makes a lot of difference, I walked on a set and saw how a star kid was already enjoying

Actor Nayan Shukla says the regular way — giving auditions — is the only one she was convinced by to land work.

Nayan Shukla didn’t want to become an actor originally, but she confesses that once you are in Mumbai, the city where Bollywood is based out of, you tend to gravitate towards it.

Actor Nayan Shukla starred in Masaba Masaba, playing the designer’s assistant.

Having hosted some web content before, she landed the role of Gehna, Masaba’s assistant in the web show Masaba Masaba, which has made her visible to makers now. Her project under Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s production house is also all set for a release soon.

“Initially, I was called to audition for Masaba’s best friend, but didn’t get that part, they wanted maturity on the face. The director really liked my screen presence, and I was called again,” she says. But what happened next was a character she wasn’t ready to play. “I was told the character might be a lesbian, I was hesitant ‘I cannot pull this off for sure’. They asked me to just audition, even then I thought what’s the point of doing it, but did it anyway. But then to my good fortune, they decided to change the script, and I landed Gehna,” she tells us.

Shukla, born and raised in Delhi, was a total stranger to showbiz. And when we prod her about how it was for her as someone who didn’t know anyone in this field, she says she will not sugarcoat it.

“No two doubts it’s easy for an insider. It makes a lot of difference. I didn’t know anyone, or have any connections, so the regular way of finding my way was the only one I was convinced. Going to a casting director, sending my pictures, requesting them to call me for auditions, to just give me that opportunity,” she says.

And the way an insider is even treated on set is something that left her surprised. “I walked on to a set and saw the star kid already enjoying, I was like ‘wow this is life, this is so great’. I didn’t belittle or feel bad about myself, I am still proud. I took some time, and landed some interesting parts,” says Shukla.