Kiara on ‘Shershaah’: It’s always a challenge portraying a real person

Dras: Kiara Advani opened up on the ability to dissociate oneself from external pressures such as trolling, nepotism talk or the industry’s camp culture. The actor who traces her lineage to the legendary Ashok Kumar and Saeed Jaffery, says it’s in a day’s work.

“We learn to detach as actors. One lives like a split personality in a way, doing so many roles in the course of the work day, and we learn how to keep that bit separate from our lives in a way,” says Kiara, about the negativity that comes with the profession.

Her upcoming role of Dimple Cheema in the biopic “Shershaah”, for instance, is an act that has stayed with her, emotionally. The film tells the story of Param Vir Chakra recipient and Kargil War hero Captain Vikram Batra. Playing Captain Batra’s fiancee Dimple let Kiara play a defining role in the film’s attempt to explore the war hero’s love life. For this, Kiara says she had to understand Dimple first.

“I had the fortune of meeting Dimple Cheema, and interacting with her. Through her, I was able to understand and trace the love story she shared with Captain Vikram Batra, and I have tried projecting her journey with him,” the actress tells us.

“It is always a challenge portraying a real life and a real story, and we kept that in mind while working on this film. There was a sense of nervousness, but a feeling of honour, too,” says Kiara, on her experience of working in the film and also on what prompted her to sign the film.

“Shershaah”, a lavishly shot and executed war drama, would probably have seen a big screen release but for the pandemic, and is now due for an OTT drop on August 12.