Exclusive: Chhoti Sardani’s Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia opens up on losing projects to Shehnaaz Gill and a star kid; adds losing Ishqbaaaz and Takht

As an actor, one has to let go of several projects, but a few sting a lot. For Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia it was actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Honsla Rakh (2021). “I was offered Honsla Rakh during Chhoti Sardarni. It was Diljit sir who had reached out himself. He texted me on Instagram and asked if I would test for a part. I woke up to his message and started crying,” Ahluwalia mentions. Interestingly the character that Ahluwalia was asked to audition was played by Shehnaaz Gill later on. “Shehnaaz ended up doing it. It was sad that I didn’t get to work with him. Lot of things didn’t work out – COVID was at its peak. And again somebody’s miss is somebody’s gain,” she adds.

It was a call from casting director Mukesh Chhabra ‘s company that brought then-lawyer Ahluwalia to Mumbai from Delhi. “He was casting for this film which was directed by a new director, who was a New York Film Academy pass out. I sent my audition from Delhi and came to Mumbai for other rounds of audition. I met the directors and producer. We spoke about the contract and paperwork. They asked me to wait for a few days,” Ahluwalia recalls. She distinctly remembers being “very excited” for the part. “I felt this was too easy. I wondered if this was going to happen despite me not being a star kid. It was too good to be true. (But)They never called me again, I waited for a few days and they just kept ghosting me,” she adds

Alhuwalia admits that after watching the movie, which was helmed by a big production house, on screen, she understood why she didn’t get the part “It does not come that easy for people like us (outsiders). That’s when reality hit me,” she mentions. Ask her if the project went to star kid and without divulging further she confesses, “Yes.”

The Delhi lass began testing for multiple roles both on the big and small screen. “Every morning I would pick my jhola and put all kinds of dresses in it, and go for auditions. I made it a point to give 6-8 auditions each day as I only had six months in Mumbai,” she shares. Ahluwalia’s first TV audition was the hit daily soap Ishqbaaaz. “Somehow I got that audition. I was like I don’t want to do TV. Yet I went for the audition, as I wanted to just face the camera. Even I did a mock shoot. (But) The part went to Niti (Taylor, actor), as I was told that my face is too similar to Surbhi (Chandna, actor). However , that audition got circulated in the TV’s casting director’s space. I was simultaneously offered Bahu Begum, and a bunch of TV projects but I wasn’t creatively inclined towards them,” she elaborates.

Interestingly, when the actor auditioned for Chhoti Sardarni (the show through which she made her acting debut), she was “least interested” “It was because of my shitty attitude towards TV auditions,” she quips. But her lack of interest in TV wasn’t the only thing she had to surpass. While Alhuwalia cracked the audition and was set to make her acting debut she was perplexed by another meaty opportunity that many would kill for. “I still remember I had auditioned for Takht. Shaano (Sharma, casting director)’s team told me to not sign the show and wait a little. There were two characters being introduced that were pivotal to the plot. But I was like I can’t wait, this is a TV show but I’m playing the lead here. I wanted to act so bad,” she explains.