Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani’s Kabir Singh emerged as a humongous success when it was released two years ago on this date. The Sandeep Reddy Vanga directorial, which was the official Hindi remake of the director’s Telugu hit, Arjun Reddy, featuring Vijay Deverakonda and Shalini Pandey, paved new paths for the careers for all of its actors, including Nikita Dutta, who was a surprise in the film.
The film was marred with some controversies around its toxic male character and there were several debates around it, including the controversial statement made by its director about being able to slap your partner when you are in love, that got into a lot of limelight. However, none of it affected the film’s success, giving Shahid the biggest hit of his career and establishing him as a force to be reckoned with.
Speaking about how the film changed her life, Nikita shares, “Kabir Singh gave me a very good recognition as before that the audience knew me as Tv’s Sumu or from the other show I did, Haasil. My previous film, Gold didn’t click so much unfortunately, but Kabir Singh gave me the recognition that I was looking for. The film was loved so much and a lot of people watched it and it worked well for me.”
Nikita agrees that it gave rise to bigger and better offers for her. “Of course, a number of very good projects came my way due to Kabir Singh’s success, including my first leading role in Rocket Gang. Bosco had a meeting with me right after he watched Kabir Singh. It did give my career a new direction so I will always be very grateful to what Kabir Singh did,” she says.
Talking about her leading man, Shahid, Nikita insists that co-actors are any actor’s biggest teachers. “You end up learning the most from the kind of people that are around you. It’s very nice to sit with experienced actors and talk to them, listening to their stories and experiences. The maximum you can gain and absorb on set is when you interact with actors who have spent years of their experience here. I see working with them as a blessing in disguise and I have learnt a lot from them,” she insists.
Nikita goes on to rave about Shahid, asserting that it’s a treat to watch him perform. “It's a very beautiful process to see Shahid approach his scenes, when he is in character. The way he is before it and how he plays it along when he is in front of the camera was quite an experience to watch. These are small little things whose importance you realise only when you are on set,” she concludes.
Image source: SpotboyE archives, IMDb