Mahira Sharma, who has gained immense success post her Bigg Boss stint, is all set to make her upcoming debut in the Punjabi cinema. In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, the actress gets candid about her debut, being a die-hard fan of Kareena Kapoor Khan, her desire to work down south and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Mahira Sharma is already a much loved Punjabi actress— what is perennial now is that her first liking of becoming a lead actress is fullfilling with her upcoming debut in Punjabi cinema.
She owes a lot of her success to one of the most popular seasons of Bigg Boss and becoming a film heroine was nothing less than a fascination for her. Always! When the team of The Pioneer sat down in conversation with the Kashmiri belle, she said, “My final avenue is here, my debut is here. I didn’t join the business of stardom for popularity, but at a very young age that “keeda” of acting sprung into me. I am not just a pretty face, I am not just associated with a controversial reality show nor am I only cute. I have an actress in me! Punjabi is not my native language, I am a Kashmiri by birth. I didn’t allow anyone else to dub for me, I perfectly learnt the dialect. Everyone back in Punjab was stunned to see me.”
Unnamed credit goes to Kareena Kapoor Khan too—because Mahira has been her die hard fan from the time the former debuted in Refugee. Recalling the time when Saif Ali Khan came on the sets of Bigg Boss, and she couldn’t hold herself back from telling him how much she loves his wife Kareena. The latter explained to us, “A pleasant coincidence happened to me. I have a web series coming up too and you won’t believe I am playing the same character as Kareena in Refugee. The appearance is so similar. Even the camera shots are very similar. The director was screaming on the sets that I have got my second Kareena.” A delightful moment for Mahira, one she has always hoped for.
As she can see, how the south movies are dominating the list, the bug has bitten her too. Mahira also wants to become a part of Southern buzz very soon. “I also want to become a pan India actress. There was a checklist that I made for myself when I was entering this business. It started from the television industry and now I would like to end it by becoming a part of Tollywood films. I am a big believer of Mahadev, and praise my success to him.
I have noticed one thing that in the span of my career I am accepted very easily by any language. So whenever I start performing, everything gets settled on its own. Production really feels that Mahira was worth casting.” After an Oscar winning moment, who wouldn’t want to channelise their roots in the south industry by the way!
Mahira is still unable to absorb the success of her season, with every passing day she witnesses, “The impact of the season was very huge. The fan base of Bigg Boss expanded to another level. I have seen a few of my fans crying for us, shivering while meeting us. All of this gives me a Wow moment of myself, they make me feel important on television.”
But, meanwhile, losing Sidharth Shukla was a devastating feeling for her! Sidharth and Mahira didn’t start on a good note, but as the season was ending the whirlwind of emotions in both of them only rose to positivity. She was shocked, she was angry and deeply disturbed. She couldn’t make sense of what was happening and as soon as she got the news she flew down to Mumbai immediately. She was there for Shehnaaz Gill as a shoulder to lean on in spite of anonymous contention.
A little too confident about herself, Mahira also shared, “The budget of the film never mattered to me, whenever you see any of my body of work it’s always a blockbuster hit. Everything has changed post the success of Bigg Boss in my life, as everyone knew my mum was a little conservative so that she can protect me but spending most of the time in the Mumbai city now even she understood the nature of open mindedness. Perfect timing!”
So Mahira is living her dream now and she took action on them, that’s why the possibility of the dream gave her strength to live it.
