Nia Sharma says she was out of work for nine months: ‘Not a single penny I had earned’

Actor Nia Sharma talked about being out of work for several months after her show, Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai, went off the air. She said that it was a difficult time for her as she was ‘all alone in Mumbai’, without any friends, and did not have any earnings as well.

Nia got her first big break in Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai, in which she played the parallel lead, Manvi Chaudhary. The show went off the air in 2013. She was then cast in Jamai Raja in 2014.

In an interview with radio host Siddharth Kannan, Nia said, “When I came to this industry, I was all by myself. I was fresh from Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai, which was the show that made me. Uske baad poora ek saal ka gap tha (After that, there was a gap of a year).”

Nia said that back then, Instagram was not a source of income for actors, as it is now. She said that even now, she does not have a ‘concrete project’ but gets work in the form of music videos, brand collaborations and other things. But in 2013, that was not the case.

Also read | Nia Sharma recalls fight with Jamai 2.0 co-star Ravi Dubey: ‘Channel had to intervene’

“So after Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai till Jamai Raja, there was a nine-month gap. I was all alone in Mumbai. I had no friends because obviously, I was new. I stayed in my shell. I worked on myself, I started learning belly dancing. Woh jo 9 mahine guzar gaye and I realised ki koi kaam nahi tha, kuch nahi tha, not a single penny I had earned, no friends… I think woh ek period tha jo mujhe dobara nahi jeena tha (I never want to relive those nine months, when I had no work, no friends and did not earn a single penny),” she said.

Nia was recently seen as a guest on Bigg Boss OTT and also features in a new music video titled Do Ghoot. Her last full-fledged acting project was the second season of the Zee5 series Jamai 2.0, which also starred Ravi Dubey.