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Nishank Verma, who will soon be seen in an upcoming project by Ravi Dubey and Sargun Mehta’s production house, is not just a talented actor but also a celebrated writer. His next written show is all set to release soon. We speak to him about this and more!
‘Hai Junoon’ a story written by you, and is ready for release. How does it feel?
It’s very exciting that it’s finally coming out – it’s been a long time coming. I wrote the story with four other writers; Ankit Sharma, Vivian Chettiar, Sumedha Dogra and Rajdeep Ghosh, and wrote the screenplays for 7 out of 20 episodes myself. It took us a long time and a lot of juggling to reach the final drafts – so finally to see it coming alive on screens is quite exciting. I’m nervous too, to see what the audience thinks of our show.
As a writer and actor, does it not get difficult to juggle the two?
Honestly, not a lot. Except when projects clash. Because both are such all-consuming jobs that you can only do one at a time. But the current work scenario is such that projects are so rare to come by, that I haven’t been facing too many clashes. But having two active work streams also helps me choose my projects better – I don’t just take up anything in desperation because I know that the other thing (hopefully) will carry me through the lean periods.
Your show with Ravi and Sargun’s production is due for release too. Are you looking forward to that?
Definitely. I’m very excited about this one. It’s almost the first time that I’m playing the lead character in a commercially releasing project, so I’m definitely excited to know how the audience receives me in this role. There’s already this huge buzz about the show amongst the audiences, thanks mostly to the popularity of my co-actor Manisha Rani and the goodwill that Ravi and Sargun’s Dreamiyata Drama has built for itself.
Being a writer does it get difficult to get the actor mode on for someone else’s written stories?
That’’s a tough one. It’s not difficult for me to switch between those two roles, but you obviously have opinions about the writing sometimes. When it’s a collaborative environment on set, one can always express and suggest things that might make a scene work better. There’s a clear distinction in my head between me as a writer and me as an actor. As an actor I’m open to play all kinds of characters and explore all kinds of stories because that’s fun for me. As a writer, I’m more limited in the sense that I won’t, or can’t just write anything unless I totally believe in it. So I have to actively shut that part of my brain sometimes when Im working as an actor.
But also, in my experience, people respect me slightly more on set when they get to know that I also write. There’s this tiny switch in the way they regard me and my opinion on the material, or just the way they listen to me. It’s invisible, but I like that – it’s quite validating.
Wishing Nishank Verma all the best for his upcoming projects!
