The always strong-headed and brave Nushrratt Bharuccha becomes a ball of mush at just one glimpse of the cats on our set, and suddenly you can see the energy shift. Facing the camera with them sparks something in her that brightens the frame, making the shoot even more personal as her white Persian cat, Noah, joins her.
The actor reveals it was a bit scary and she felt guilty of uprooting Noah from his “chilling sessions” at home. However, having him in the frame with herself brought a sense of comfort and familiarity that made the shots more appealing. “I am an animal person and I find myself emotionally very connected to any animal. My heart melts when a cat looks and purrs at me. I don’t know what this emotion is, but it’s so beautiful,” she gushes while playing with the furry felines.
A proud mother of three cats—Noah and two rescue cats named Peanut and Butter—Nushrratt Bharuccha was always a cat person, but Peanut and Butter came into her life through a unique turn of events. In the building where a friend of the actor lived, a stray cat gave birth to six kittens. While he gave them a temporary nesting area on his balcony, they required a permanent home. “I already had two cats of my own at the time, so I convinced another friend to adopt two of the kittens. Unfortunately, after adopting them, he had to relocate out of Mumbai and didn’t know anyone else who could care for them. I decided I couldn’t leave them on the streets, so I brought them to my house. And they eventually became a part of my family,” she recalls, her eyes and voice brimming with emotions.
As soon as the cats leave, and you cue the next look, Nushrratt’s attitude instantly shifts and you can sense her innate connection with fashion: “Fashion gives me a strong voice, and it has happened by doing it repeatedly over time. I have seen it develop and I’ve seen myself express through my style. Today, I can look at an outfit anywhere and tell you how much it needs to be altered and from where to just fit me. And I can even look and tell what will never work for me, without even trying. I have reached that level of connection with fashion,” she says, adding, “I cannot wear anything where I can’t see myself in it. My fashion is an expression of who I am and what I want the world to see of me and feel of me.”
It’s not just off screen, but on screen too, the actor has been showing different aspects of a woman, and for her that representation is necessary, be it any kind of a woman. “I can never put a woman in a category that now she is strong-headed and now she is an abla naari. It is about the situation she is in and that makes you a certain way. In a difficult situation, even the most strong-headed woman can feel helpless. It’s more about what she is going through, and it is important to tell stories of all kinds of women. What matters to me is how she gets out of the difficult situation she is in. The story should not end with her feeling helpless,” she insists.
While we love Nushrratt’s clarity and bluntness, she insists that she also knows when to hold back, and that is what life has taught her. “It’s very pertinent right now to do that in the current scenario of social media. Everybody has an opinion on everything today and any opinion can be misconstrued or taken wrongly and offend people. Anything can happen, so you have to be careful about what you are putting out. You are not living in isolation anymore,” she says. As we are amused by her clarity of thoughts, we can’t stop ourselves from asking her how does she do it? “That clarity comes to me because I understand myself and my life. I grew up very early on and I am so at peace and calm because of that. I still have my bad days, my doubts, but I am able to see things with more calmness now.”
Professionally, Nushrratt took up quite a unique opportunity last year as she starred in the silent comedy film Uff Yeh Siyappa, and the actor admits it has given her a whole new perspective on work. “I got this new experience that boosted my entire soul. Initially I was stressed that since there were no dialogues, how would I bring the screenplay to life but I discovered a whole new way of expressing myself through that experience. I loved it so much that if I am asked to do it again, I will do it in a heartbeat,” she smiles.
But she also has another unique feat to her name. Nushrratt is one of the few female actors to have been a constant part of not one but two franchises: Pyaar Ka Punchnama and Chhorii. While it is a big achievement, the actor treats it with humility. “I feel a sense of gratitude more than anything. I started with an ensemble film (Pyaar Ka Punchnama, 2011) where I knew that the story was mainly about these guys. My first aim was that amongst us six people, if people even remember my name, that would be an achievement for me. Even before Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018), what I wanted was that finally from the Punchnama girl, people would know me as Nushrratt Bharuccha. My aims were just those, so having a franchise to my name, just makes me feel thankful,” she leaves us bemused as she gets up to get ready for the next shot.