Niki Walia: Web gives one more room to experiment!

Actress Niki Walia who has enthralled the audience with her performance in films like Shaandaar, Lupt and shows like Samandar, Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani amongst others was recently seen in ZEE5 series Never Kiss your Best Friend. The series starred Nakuul Mehta and Anya Singh in the main lead and was based on Sumrit Shahi’s best selling Novel, Never Kiss your Bestfriend. 

In an exclusive interview with Niki Walia, she spoke to us about her experience, her character, memories from shooting, the growth of digital space and much more..

1. First of all, how was the entire experience working in a web series along with Nakuul?

Nakuul and I have known each other socially and we’ve met at Sanjay Kapoor’s house for dinner along with his wife Janki. I think both of them are an absolutely adorable couple. Nakuul in particular; is not just a dedicated actor but he is also someone who believes a lot in self-growth and is so involved with personal growth. He reads, he travels, he explores, he’s into theatre, he makes sure the atmosphere on the set is perfect. He is a breath of fresh air in today’s generation of actors and I genuinely believe that he is an all-rounder. It’s a very rare quality that you get in people today that come to work and aren’t cribbing, complaining or bitching or forever finding fault with either the production department or the direction department. In this new generation of actors, he is the first guy I have come across after a very long time who also believes in the same things. Our work ethics are very similar. He is ever so courteous, a thorough gentleman, he is adorable, I just love Nakuul and Janki. I am so happy I met Nakuul it was an amazing working together 

2. You have played some strong roles in Television and Films, what do you have to say about your character in this series?

My character is basically of a Punjabi wife/ mother who is extremely controlling but in a sweet way, because she actually thinks that she has the right to tell her husband to do things that she wants him to do, she has the right over her daughter. So they find everything in the household only going according to her but she does it out of endearment more than being bossy and just to bring that little quality I had to really work on making this character a cute Punjaban rather than a bossyboots. 

3. Do you remember any particular moment from the shoot which will stay with you forever?

There were so many such moments but yes one major thing that really highlighted was that we were constantly celebrating somebody’s birthday, it was one day after another, cake after another. On the set, we were all just done with sweets. Another thing that really stood out to me was my sore eye - I had a cyst in my left eye and it was extremely painful and my makeup artist Namrata Gurbani had to work an extra 10 to 15 minutes every day on my eye to make it better. It was excruciatingly painful and it was very visible. As an actor, I had forgotten the fact that it’s going to look terrible on-screen and I just focused on nothing but my performance. The other thing was how skimpily dressed Anya was and my entire focus use to be to put a jacket on her right after the shot was done, my heart went out to that child. I was genuinely getting all these motherly instincts out on Anya but all in all, I have to compliment the production team as well as the direction team, they were spot on. This entire shoot was more like a big fat party rather than working, we were working for grueling long hours but it was just awesome. Captain of the ship Arif, hats off to him, a special mention to him, he is such a young lad but he is so amazing. I have loved the production Niraj, Sarita, Yukti, Naina everybody. It was a treat, this entire shoot was a treat. 

4. A lot of actors are trying their hands on the digital medium, what is your take on that? Are you looking forward for more digital content in future?

Absolutely I am. Web gives one more room to experiment, the roles are more interesting and diverse rather than the linear that exists on television.  However, I am not choosing work according to medium but rather what excites and challenges me.

5. The story is a very unique concept of two best friends, what is that one thing which made you drive towards the project?

The fact that I have not done this character before and I thought that it is extremely refreshing, a very youthful story and a story that anybody and everybody can relate to at any age group frankly. So when Never Kiss Your Best Friend came to me, the actor inside me jumped at the challenge to do something different, to get into the skin of a character I never have before.