Saiyami Kher is emotionally attached to Mirzya

Saiyami Kher, who started her career with a Telugu film Rey (2015), is making her Hindi film debut with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Mirzya. The actress, granddaughter of yesteryear star Usha Kiran, believes it can’t get any better than this for her.

“I was chosen for Mirzya after six months of auditioning. Then, when I finally got selected, Rakeysh Sir took me to Delhi to be trained by theatre director Dilip Shankar. I evolved as a person and as an actor over the last two years when I worked on this film,” says Kher as she contemplates that inevitable break from her mentor's vigilant nurturing.

Kher will share screen space with Harshvardhan Kapoor, son of actor Anil Kapoor, who is also making his Hindi film acting debut with Mirzya.

“My co-star Harshvardhan Kapoor has already moved on," said Kher. "He is doing a second film. [But] I am still emotionally attached to Mirzya. I know everyone will disperse soon. But how do I deal with it? It’s like the end of schooling. You know you have to move on in life. But the break is very painful.”

Kher looks at Mehra as a guardian beyond her home. “He is family now. He has taught me so much. Do you know, he’s a fabulous cook. His mutton curry is to die for,” she said.

Kher breaks into peals of laughter as she describes her co-star’s caution about his diet. “I am a complete foodie. Harshvardhan measures every morsel he eats. So I’d be devouring my mutton curry while he would be nibbling on his 200 grams of broccoli,” she said.

On the experience of starring in a film with two time zones, she said, “We shot the two stories like two different films. Mehra shot us in one time zone first, then the other.”

Unlike other actresses, Kher had to look muscular for one time zone. “For one of the two characters I had to get a muscular physique and look like an Amazonian warrior. Muscle is something usually associated in our films with male actors. So it was fun and a challenge to break that mould,” she said.

Like her co-star, Saiyami Kher also carries her family's film legacy. “The late Usha Kiran was my daadi. I was only 10 when she passed away. I knew nothing about her films and work. I knew her only as my doting grandma. It’s now that I am catching up with her work. I feel humbled by all the talent around me,” she said.