Mumbai, Oct 2: From being a software engineer to an actor, Nishant Dahiya, who is making his Bollywood debut with Yash Raj Films' ‘Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge', feels an established banner adds to the overall appeal of movie.
“I am a software engineer. My dad is an engineer and he was the role model for me...so doing engineering was expected (of me). I was working with Wipro as a software system engineer and I was there for about five months when my brother who is in Army asked me take part in Grasim Mr India competition, in which I was the first runner up. This was the beginning of my journey in the industry,” Nishant told PTI in an interview.
“Since my childhood I remember that I used to watch movies and act and dance and sing in front of mirror. I had never thought of taking acting as a profession. I feel modeling was the stepping stone for me to do acting,” he said.
Nishant has featured in about 15 advertisements before the film came his way, prominent among them being with the southern beauty Asin and Nargis Fakri of Imtiaz Ali's upcoming film ‘Rockstar'.
The advertisement with Nargis clicked for Nishant and it was then when Yash Raj Films offered him a lead role in their youth-centric film ‘Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge'.
When asked about significance of banner in establishing career of an actor, Nishant said “brand does matters a lot at least for your debut film. It brings you in the light. It does help in pulling the audiences to theatres”.
“When people from Yash Raj Films called me, I did not believe in first instance that they are offering me a lead role. I was in Delhi that time for my brother's wedding. They called me again after three-four days saying why I did not turn up for the audition,” he said.
“Since I had a doubt on they casting me as a lead actor, I confirmed with them again. And I could not believe they offered me the role. I went for five-six auditions and when they called me saying they have selected me I could not understand how to and what to react. It was all like a dream,” Nishant said.
‘Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge' directed by debutante Nupur Asthana, comes from Y-Film's, the youth division of YRF Films.
The film is a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of social networking and tells the story of four youth who pretend to be someone else online but can not fake true love.
About his character, Nishant says, “I play Rahul he is a rockstar at university level. This guy looks like a million bucks, sings like a dream and is charming as hell.
He ignores and denies lots of friendship requests in a day. He has two very good friends Vishal and Hacky and they have complete access to his house, his car, his life.”
Besides, Nishant, the film slated to release on October 14, also marks the debut of three other actors namely Saqib Saleem, Saba Azad and Tara D'Souza. PTI
