From her very first role as Zara in Sacred Games, Elnaaz Norouzi left an impression on audiences’ minds. The Iranian-German actress who was a successful international model before she decided to come to Bollywood to try her hand at acting, has since then made an appearance in Guru Randhawa’s Made in India music video and the Punjabi film Khido Khundi among others. With a number of exciting projects in her kitty, Elnaaz tells TMM that it was always a dream for her to act and now that she has the chance, she is going to give it her all.

Many actors took online classes and honed their skills during the lockdown. Did you try out something new?
I always wanted to go to New York Film Academy to learn acting but since I have always been a working actress, I never really got the chance to do that. In the lockdown, I got the time and a beautiful chance to enroll myself in an online class at the NYFA. It felt great to be able to fulfill the dream of learning acting and honing my skills.

Your character in Sacred Games became so popular. When you were doing the show, did you realize the potential of playing this character at that time?
No! I did not realize the potential the show had, if I may say, I don’t think anybody really thought where Sacred Games will go, how big a hit it will become. Honestly, I am very happy about it because when you have a lot of expectations, it doesn’t always come true. When you go in with minimal expectations and the show becomes so huge, it makes you even happier.

You started your acting career with a character like Zoya. Did that encourage you to look for roles that let you explore your acting prowess rather than the usual run-of-the-mill ones?
Well, I always have looked for roles that were more about acting than looking beautiful or being a heroine to a hero. My aim was never to look pretty or do a dance number alone. The makers kept telling me this isn’t a very conventional launch, you won’t be looking very pretty, there will a flashback of Zoya where your nose would be bigger, eyebrows won’t be done etc. My team got three phone calls before we signed to make sure I know there won’t be five dance numbers and I won’t look pretty all the time. I kept telling them this is what I want. I want to showcase my acting skills. That’s why it took so long for me. I had many other offers before Scared Games but I said no because I didn’t feel those roles were correct for me. I am very happy with the choice I made with Sacred Games.

Now that you have acted in shows like SG and Abhay, what are the kind of movies and OTT projects you want to be a part of?
I think of projects. Whatever movies or shows I do, I don’t care if it comes on OTT or any other platform. I always wanted to do comedy and thriller. I am so happy to have got a comedy with ‘Hello Charlie’ and a thriller with ‘Sangeen’. I am very excited that very early on in my career, I am getting to do what I want to do and I don’t think many people can say that about themselves.

Can you tell us a bit more about your character ‘Hello Charlie’ and the relevance of your character in the plot?
It is very important, especially for women, to see what they are doing in the film. Obviously, there will be a film where you will play a smaller character or a character not so important to the plot. But for me, I would like to choose, as much as it is in my ability, a character that has something to do with the film. In ‘Hello Charlie’, my character Mona gets an idea that sets the film into motion. She gets the idea of putting Jackie Shroff’s character into a Gorilla suit to get him out of Mumbai and finds Charlie to carry the gorilla. If you get Mona out of the story there will be no film, that is how important Mona is to the whole plot.

When did you learn Hindi so well?
I learned Hindi before I came to India. It took me two-three years to learn it well. I feel whatever I do, I should do it with perfection and I thought language should not be something that holds me back. I didn’t want any producer to say we can’t take her because she can’t speak Hindi. For that matter, I worked very hard on my acting because I didn’t want anyone to say she looks pretty but can’t act or she can speak Hindi but can’t dance. So, I am working hard on every aspect. I learnt to read and write Hindi as well because I thought that would help me speak it better.

What are the future projects in your kitty?
I have Sangeen, a series I did with Maddock which will be announced soon. I have also done a song that will feature in a big film that will happen in summer.