In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, actor Nimisha Nair opens up about her haunting performance in Logout, where she plays a young woman consumed by digital obsession. From discovering Sakshi’s voice with surgical precision to exploring the psychological cracks of loneliness and idolisation, Nimisha reflects on the intensity of the role, her own detachment from social media and why she believes no screen can replace human connection
Tejal Sinha
tejal.sinha30@gmail.com
In the chilling digital thriller Logout, actress Nimisha Nair delivers a disconcertingly potent performance as Sakshi — a 19-year-old obsessive fan whose devotion to a YouTube influencer turns dangerously controlling. The character, though largely off-screen, makes a lasting impact with just her voice.
Nimisha Nair’s past work is a testament to her range and emotional depth as a performer. From playing the sensual and lonely Meera in Amar Colony—a performance that earned her the Special Jury Prize at Tallinn Black Nights Festival—to portraying a sharp young lawyer in Trial by Fire, she has consistently chosen roles that challenge her. In 8 AM Metro, she appeared as Riya, the caring sister of the protagonist and now, with Logout, she has explored the darkest crevices of obsession and isolation.
In an exclusive chat, Nimisha unpacks the emotional depth, psychological challenges, and personal reflections that came with playing one of the most unsettling antagonists in recent memory.
Nimisha describes the response to Logout as overwhelming, not just for the volume of feedback but for its emotional and intellectual weight. “A lot of people have reached out talking about the parallels with social media and how the film made them think in those directions—which people don’t usually tend to do,” she says. While she’s received praise, she’s also faced negative comments, particularly directed at her character. But Nimisha welcomes the dislike, saying, “You’re not supposed to like her—and that’s good for me.”
Sakshi’s presence in the film is predominantly vocal, with much of her menace and emotional weight conveyed through her voice. Nimisha shares that she and director Amit Golani spent significant time understanding how to achieve the perfect tone for Sakshi. “We spoke about how a person’s voice is like an entry into their soul,” she explains. They meticulously worked on the rhythm, intonation, and sharpness of Sakshi’s speech to reflect her social, political, and economic background. “She’s a 19-year-old girl from a middle-class family,” Nimisha notes, adding that they even introduced a slight nasal twang to lend authenticity and youthfulness to the voice. She recalls sitting with her eyes closed on set, attempting to find “the correct sur, the correct note for the voice.”
Stepping into Sakshi’s psyche wasn’t an easy task, especially for an actor like Nimisha who doesn’t idolise people in real life. “I admire people, but I don’t follow anyone religiously,” she says, explaining that devotion to another person was something she personally found hard to relate to. “In fact, we were exploring an extreme form of devotion, which I find a little challenging when it comes to another human being.” But as she dug deeper, she found empathy. Sakshi, she says, is not simply evil or fanatical—she’s lonely. “You can’t look at someone in black or white terms. There’s good and evil in all of us. I had to tap into my own darkness to understand her.”
Unlike many actors who draw from real-life references, Nimisha doesn’t rely on external incidents for character development. “That’s just not my process,” she says. Instead, her approach is internal and layered—starting with the emotional structure, then the voice, and finally the physicality. However, the team did spend an entire week fleshing out Sakshi’s backstory before filming began. “We spoke a lot—Amit sir, Babil and I—about where she comes from. She’s probably an outcast, someone who doesn’t have many friends, and finds refuge in her phone screen,” Nimisha explains. She compares Sakshi’s obsession with that of real-world fans who feel entitled to the personal lives of influencers they’ve never met. “It’s loneliness that drives people to seek meaningful connection through virtual realities.”
Her interactions with Babil Khan, who plays the influencer Pratyush, were minimal during filming—by design. “Once the shoot began, we had next to no interaction,” she reveals. This separation wasn’t due to tension but was part of maintaining the authenticity of their performances. Since all of Sakshi’s lines were recorded live on set and relayed through a speaker to Babil in another room, the tension remained raw and real. “He didn’t want to talk to me, and I understood why. It helped maintain that emotional distance,” she adds. However, she describes Babil as a lovely, childlike and respectful person, and shares that they connected warmly after the wrap party.
Playing such a psychologically intense character could have taken a toll on her, but Nimisha had her own personal challenges to deal with during the filming of Logout, which ironically helped her detach. “I didn’t have a lot of time to process Sakshi because I had other things to deal with. That became my way of switching off,” she says. She doesn’t subscribe to method acting, preferring to step out of character the moment the scene ends. “My personal life actually helped me get out of it. It worked well, in a way.”
While the film deepens a cultural conversation about social media, Nimisha’s own views haven’t changed much. “No form of virtual reality can bring you peace,” she states firmly. That belief, she says, has only been strengthened by the responses she has received post-release. She herself uses an app that restricts social media access, helping her resist the urge to mindlessly scroll. “Even when there’s nothing to do, your fingers automatically go to the app. It’s subconscious,” she admits, adding that she now makes a conscious effort to stay away from the screen.
As for what lies ahead, Nimisha is actively seeking diversity in her roles. “Nobody wants to be stereotyped,” she says, noting that she’s already on that path. She has just completed shooting for two web series across different platforms and is currently working on a Tamil feature film. With three to four projects lined up for release by the end of this year and early next, Nimisha is excited to showcase a broad range of characters—each different from the last.
