Flora Saini - My Journey Is Been Quite Surprising Actually I Became An Actor By Chance And Not By Choice (Actor, India)

  If you are talented then only you can achieve success.

1. Tell us about your background and journey? 

I come from an army background. My dad is in the army. We've been traveling most of the time and my mother is a school teacher. I don't have anybody from this industry and nobody in my family is in this line.

My journey is been quite surprising actually i became an actor by chance and not by choice. Nobody from my family was in this line. I was a very fat under confident, backbencher, introvert so nobody had ever think not even me could ever think, that i would become an actor one day but these trip of life have already been written and we just live one page a day. 

It is written and god will take you where he need to take you this is exactly what happens. So me what happens totally by chance and money just let you there. Gid is very kind that i got work here.

2. Did you ever dreamt of becoming an actress? 

I was not even look like an actor when I was in school but it just happened. I was fat, I had braces, I was dark but I firmly believe that we can do something for body weight but the face I had been very chubby for a long time but actually I got very lucky because at that time.

They liked fat girls and despite my weight loss, despite controlling my appetite because I was great foody it was really hard for me to stay away from food so I don't know how I managed I used to have cravings for food.

I always struggled for weight loss but there comes a point where you start understanding I need to look good and I need to take care about my body and this is not for anyone but for me and it just happened, I dropped weight maybe I didn't find my diet for very long time. When I find keto I just lost weight. 

There is so many things and events when I felt I was thin at that time but when I go back I would say no and when I actually lost weight I thought no i look better in healthy body. 

So. I never dreamt of becoming an actor if I could I would probably a teacher or something nice and not related to acting stuff because acting take lot of hard work. It is a beautiful profession to be in but it requires a lot of hard work. I am happy that I am here and I thank God for this. 

3. How can one approach this career and have the confidence and belief to become an actor? 

When I joined my acting course in Mumbai i still remembered there were two boys who came from Punjab they were such a brilliant actor like we are nothing they were way superior. 

As I said in my life acting happened by chance I was supposed to be doing something else but how things get happens in my life directed towards Mumbai or towards Hyderabad and towards acting so those boys did their course and they tried to look up for work for almost one year but it didn't happened.

Not because they were talented they were but I think god has something else for them their destiny might be having something more better than this so every roadblock is basically a redirection to somewhere better that what i firmly believe.

So I used to tell people that even if god is providing you with small or minor works. That's brilliant he had some plans to make your future aspiring and great. 

If things are happening late for you then don't get disheartened there is one thing I learnt from Irfan Khan life, Nawazuddin Siddique life, Vidya Balan life so you never know for that magic even Pankaj Tripathi sir there is so much to learn from their lives that magic can happen its about that one fine day that can change your life. 

Only you have to do is show up, do not miss your auditions, make good friends and that's how i would suggest to approach your career. 

If we talk about confidence it comes from experience. I would say if somebody like me put here today and i know lot of actors who cannot be into that work of hero or main lead but they still do an amazing work so i think that confidence and belief comes from your heart and your soul. 

If God is on your side then you will keep getting work and if it doesn't happen to you please don't be disheartened because God has written something better for you. So it's good to chase your passion but whether your passion will be your profession doesn't not make you less deserving. 

4. If not this, what would you be doing? 

Maybe I would be a teacher like my mom but i really don't know. This is all i know and i love it here. 

5. For a complete outsider what advice would you like to give? 

For a complete outsider, right now i think this is the best time to join the industry. There is so much work and way back we had only television industry and they had to really struggle hard to crack it and even when you crack it you probably get smaller roles but now I think if you are talented then only you can achieve success.

6. How important is social media validation in your profession?

It is very important and now as the technology is improving with foreign influence, i think it's just that the more followers you have doesn't make you a better actor, it just make you more social a person who lives to interact with their fans and which is important. 

I feel there are many brilliant actors who are not so much socially active and they have a lot of of followers but as an actor your personal life is really not your personal life and your fans wants to know about your work and everything. 

Social media validation happens automatically what matters is how you put up yourself out there socially because the world is kind of just shrunk on phones and you get a chance to convert to so many people who not even ask you what have you done they can just get to know about you through social media profile and all of your work. 

It has its pros and cons but let's look at the bright side.

7. What is the common misconception people have about acting?

They think it is a glamorous profession but not at all, we really have to toil sweat and sun and blood and all of that and criticism and rejection of course. It is not a stable job. It just look like that you walked out of designer store and you have hair and makeup set up everytime and we look good. 

But we come with our flaws and it's just that we are in a profession which allows us to hide it a little better, the way we work have a long working hours and in harsh lights, you can't even fall sick and you got dates and sets and occasions and deadlines to meet so it looks glam but it's not what you think.

8. What are some of your future plans?

My future plan is to keep sailing through life. I never had any plans, I think god has been kind to me because at a point where I thought my career is over, no more was coming, he just gave me work. So my plan in large is to keep working endlessly. 

Also to work in good projects, '200 halla hu' just released on Zee5. To be doing mixture of commercial entertainers, hard hitting or message oriented meaningful cinemas. 

9. Which is your favourite book and why? 

In this lockdown, usually I read only English novels, James Hadley chase, Sidney Sheldon being my top favorite but amid this lockdown my friends introduced me to hindi novels and a writer Mr. Vyas he is so good, I read three books of his and literally enjoyed that I can't put it down. 

The novel was basically about college and romance but it is so well that I am really proud of indian writers. 

I really wish that there must be some movies or web series based on this should be created. As you read it made you laugh even though It has some serious talk but it is very entertaining. So on a whole, indian writers are really brilliant. 

- Flora Saini

- Interviewed By Kusum Jha