Faria Abdullah, who is known for acting in Telugu films, is all set to mark her OTT debut with The Jengaburu Curse. The Free Press Journal caught up with her for an exclusive chat.
The actress believes that it is the right moment for her to explore digital offerings. “I feel it’s a good time at least for me. Finally, the time has come where we can go beyond regional boundaries. The emergence of OTT is the biggest change so far in the entertainment business. It allows more and more actors to come in a creative space. I am looking forward to work across borders,” she shares.
When asked about how difficult it was for her to enter the space of OTT from films, she says, “I wanted to associate with the names of those top three OTT platforms since I am a believer of good quality content. I believe the platform with which I am currently working has maintained the graph. It wasn’t difficult to enter; rather it was a very evolving and engaging process. However, both the formats are different from each other.”
Elaborating further on the kind of roles she is looking for in the digital space, Faria reveals, “I think action has to be on the top in the list for me. Also, The Jengaburu Curse got a lot of action out of me so I want to explore more of it now. A lot of people haven’t seen what all I can do as an actor. I know my weaknesses and strengths.”
On her action sequences, she explains, “There was a lot of running required in the forest. I learned a lot of defence. I had to gain stamina and strength.”
Faria is all praise for the show’s director Nila Madhab Panda. “He has given a lot to the show. It is one of my best experiences to work with him. He doesn’t let anyone stay behind rather takes the leap together. To be in a place for so much time and to shoot there was something for us. To learn about the place of which you had no idea was a task. I surrendered to him and it was a fulfilling experience,” she gushes.
On a parting note, Faria spills the beans on her dream directors and co-stars. “In the Hindi film industry, I would want to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Anurag Kashyap, Imtiaz Ali and Zoya Akhtar. Among actors, I love RajKummar Rao and Vicky Kaushal. Ranveer Singh is my all time favourite. I strongly feel that I am a female version of him in a parallel universe. I relate with him sometimes more than Deepika (Padukone),” she concludes.
The Jengaburu Curse also stars M Nasser, Makarand Deshpande, Sudev Nair, Deipak Sampat and Hitesh Dave. It is India’s first ‘cli-fi’ thriller web show and will premiere on an OTT platform on August 9.
