I think ‘Hawa’ is my root to silver screen: Tushi

Nazifa Tushi is now having a good time as her film ‘Hawa’ becomes a hit. In a candid conversation with The Business Post’s Purba Zannat, Tushi talked about her film, her experience and a lot more.

How was your experience of acting in the film?

The overall experience was really good. ‘Hawa’ is like my schooling of acting. Work for the film began in 2019 but I was with the team since 2018. I took a year to prepare myself for the character. I learned how to play a particular character. I didn’t know how to act. I went through a grooming process and started to understand how to act and all of these happened because of ‘Hawa’. All of us tried to remain in the character for a long time to become the character. I stayed with a gipsy community, wore saree for six months, and even I didn’t sleep in bed for six months to become Gulti. I learned to become mentally strong, learned acting methods, crafting teamwork etc. to portray the character properly. Then the shooting started. Though it was a tough shooting experience yet it became easy as we all had prepared ourselves for a long time. Now when I think about the shooting, it feels quite surreal to believe we stayed on a boat for 45 days. It was an exotic feeling in my life.

How do you feel now, when ‘Hawa’ becomes a box office hit?

I feel really overwhelmed and for me, the experience is new too. The audience is praising the song and the film. They are complimenting us for portraying the characters properly. ‘Hawa’ will be always a special one to me as I believe it is my root to act on the silver screen. I’m enjoying the hype and the response I am getting.

What is your next project?

I don’t talk about my future work as I don’t feel comfortable talking about a new project before it takes a shape.

Does the expectation of the people put any pressure on you after receiving praise from the audience for the latest film?

Everyone tries to give their best when it comes to the profession. I also try to do the same. I wanted to work dedicatedly. I worked on many projects in between but the pandemic delayed their release. Thus, I can’t say which one will be hit and which one won’t. I tried to give equal effort to all the projects I did.

But as ‘Hawa’ became a hit, it has some pressure on me too. When I completed ‘Hawa’, I was a new face. It is recently when the audience watched my acting on OTT and knows me as an actress. If ‘Hawa’ was released three years back, things would have been different.

‘Ice-cream’ or ‘‘Hawa’, which one is more special to you?

I started my career with Ice-cream. If the director did not pick me up, the chance of ‘‘Hawa’’ wouldn’t have come to my life. ‘Hawa’ is important for me as I learned lots of things while doing the film. However, I can’t ignore ‘Ice-cream’ as it was my first project but I was an apprentice back then when I acted in ‘Ice-cream’. From ‘Ice-cream’ to ‘Hawa’, these three years prepared me as an actress.