Nargis Fakhri: The best of times, the worst of times in India

Brut India

“Every day there was a new guy I was with in the papers.” Nargis Fakhri on the good and the bad of Bollywood.

Transcript

00:00People think you're a diva or a B-I-T-C-H.

00:07Every day there was a new guy I was with, you know, in the paper.

00:11I'm just waiting for you guys to turn me into a lesbian.

00:14Anyone can be pretty, but I'm funny.

00:16But I was not funny over there. I was not funny in India.

00:20After Rockstar was when the shock hit me.

00:31Hi, I'm Nargis Factory for Brute.

00:34When I told people in the States, like family members and friends,

00:40they were like, oh my God, you're going to India.

00:42That's so crazy, so scary. You don't even know anybody.

00:44How can you go by yourself? It could be dangerous.

00:47And like there's animals in the street and cows and elephants and this and that.

00:51And it's like third world. And obviously, yes, all of that is true.

00:55But the way people spoke about it is as if they had a fear.

01:00You know, some people, some people were like, oh, wow, that's so cool.

01:03I'd love to go to India. It's very exotic. I want to do yoga and meditate.

01:06I only thought, OK, I'm going to go to India, which is super cool.

01:10So I was very excited about everything.

01:13Everything I saw was exciting.

01:15Even the crows, you know, in Mumbai, there's so many crows.

01:19I was very excited about them.

01:22I was I was just in awe and happy and exploring.

01:27I mean, I ate everything from everywhere, which is not good

01:31because I was in the hospital all the time.

01:33Like I was always in the hospital, but I didn't care because I'm like, oh, my God,

01:36you know, like I'm going to eat this gadget from the guy on the street corner

01:41or pani puri from this dude or butter from here,

01:44which was not no one warned me.

01:47And I just went ahead and I was just being myself.

01:50So that part was exciting, yet traumatic.

01:55So I was always getting sick.

01:57And then the other part of being in the film industry in the beginning,

02:03it was very easy because MTI has built a bubble around me

02:09and he created a foundation and friendship with everybody.

02:12You know, the ADs, everyone on the cast and crew were was my friend.

02:20And I only hung out with them because I was so focused on the film

02:24and that's how he wanted it, which was amazing.

02:27So I think after Rockstar was when the shock hit me because I'm like, OK,

02:33you know, everybody moves on to their other jobs and their life and their family,

02:39which I wasn't prepared for because I never experienced

02:43what it was like to be on a film.

02:45So when you're on a film, it's like you have this family for the for the whatever.

02:49It took about two years for Rockstar to come out.

02:52So you have that family for a certain amount of time.

02:54But then after the film is over, you, you know, you move on to the next film.

02:59I was new and I didn't know anybody.

03:02And I think maybe because I'm so American,

03:06my personality didn't fit with a lot of people

03:09or they couldn't understand me, maybe, you know, and vice versa.

03:13You know, culturally, India and America, America, very different, like so different.

03:20So it took some time to adjusting to the cultural norms.

03:27It took a long time, actually.

03:29It took a long time.

03:30I would say it took me about five years to adjust.

03:35And then in India, when I was learning the language, everyone spoke English to me.

03:39So I never had a fully immersive experience because everyone spoke English.

03:45And when I would try to speak Hindi, I would be very slow

03:48because I have to translate in my brain.

03:50And by that time, they just already passed the conversation.

03:56And then there came a time where actually I could go to the movies

03:59and understand at least 75 percent of the dialogues.

04:03Still, I always had trouble getting the jokes because the jokes are cultural

04:09and I didn't grow up in India.

04:10So sometimes I'm like, why is that funny?

04:13And I remember there were times I would laugh so loud in the theater

04:17and no one else was laughing.

04:19And then I wouldn't be laughing and everyone was laughing.

04:22That was another struggle where I would make jokes

04:25because in my circle of friends, I'm pretty funny, you know.

04:31And even when I meet people abroad, I'm pretty funny.

04:34But for some reason, whenever I'd make jokes on stage or at an event or something,

04:39no one would get my joke.

04:41So it would be like crickets.

04:43So I was like, oh, my God, I am not even funny in this country.

04:50It was so bad for my self-esteem.

04:53I can't even tell you.

04:55Okay, yeah, I'm kind of nice looking.

04:57But my funniness was like a big deal for me.

05:00For me, the funniness was like, oh, you know, everyone's pretty.

05:04Anyone can be pretty.

05:06But I'm funny.

05:07But I was not funny over there.

05:09I was not funny in India.

05:10I didn't know how to maneuver in the industry.

05:13And obviously, I didn't know everybody.

05:18And it always felt like everybody knew everybody

05:20and I was just not in the know of everybody.

05:24So that was quite difficult.

05:26I think also I also became very like I'm very social and friendly

05:36and authentic with who I am.

05:38But because I think people couldn't understand me,

05:41I started feeling that I had to close myself in and not be who I am

05:46and not be honest and vocal or loud or animated.

05:53Because people didn't get it.

05:55At least that's what I felt.

05:56And then obviously some people did say, oh, you say too much.

05:59Don't say this.

06:00Don't do that.

06:01You know what I mean?

06:02Everyone gives you the – especially like PR people,

06:04they give you like, oh, you can't do this.

06:05Don't say that.

06:06You can't be honest.

06:08I mean, I heard it all.

06:10So then suddenly you start feeling that you're being closed into this box

06:15and you're feeling stuck.

06:18I mean, like times of like when you're having a hard time on set

06:25and you're feeling maybe not self-confident or maybe I'm sick.

06:30I was sick on a set.

06:31I had 105 fever.

06:32Nobody seemed to really care.

06:34They just wanted to get the work done.

06:36And obviously no one's there to stand up for you but yourself.

06:40Then if you stand up for yourself, people think you're a diva or a BITC.

06:45I think media, to be honest.

06:47Media really kind of can fuck with people's mental health,

06:51which I know they're just doing their job.

06:53But some of the stuff that they write or the fake stuff that they write,

06:56because there was articles that were like not even real.

06:59And to me, I would read it and I'm like, is this even legally allowed?

07:08Like how can someone publish something in a newspaper or on TV

07:13where a large population watches it and will think it's true?

07:18Like just imagine, if they're making stuff up about my life,

07:21that my mom came to India and I'm moving in with I think Shahid Kapoor or something.

07:25It was so crazy.

07:26And so many other things that only I would know the truth

07:30or close friends would know the truth.

07:31There was another article.

07:34I don't know where.

07:35I wish I saved it or kept it.

07:37There was a journalist that came up to me and she –

07:40because everybody was writing that – because I was the new person.

07:43So obviously, fresh meat.

07:46Everyone's writing everything.

07:48So one thing that stuck with me was that every day there was a new guy I was with

07:54in the paper.

07:56I'm trying to make friends.

07:57And I have a lot of guy friends because I'm like a guy.

08:00I'm kind of a dude.

08:01But obviously, you wouldn't know when you see me all dressed up and sexy.

08:06But my personality is very like a tomboy.

08:09So I'm thinking it's going to be the same in India.

08:12But obviously, I was wrong because every article was like another.

08:17I'm hanging out with this guy or that guy.

08:19Sometimes I never even hung out or met the guy.

08:22But the media put it in there.

08:24But the funny thing was this lady journalist came up to me.

08:28She says – it was at an event.

08:30And she was like, oh, hi, Nargis.

08:33Nice to meet you.

08:34So tell me, how does it feel to be with all the B-town stars?

08:39And the way she said it was like insinuating that I'm dating them or something.

08:43And I'm thinking – and, of course, I got very offended.

08:46I was like – I mean, excuse my language.

08:49I was like, this bitch trying to call me a whore.

08:51Oh, my God.

08:52I was feeling so offended.

08:55And I said, well, I'm just waiting for you guys to turn me into a lesbian.

09:02And the connotation in that was saying that you've made me date every dude in the newspaper already.

09:08So there's no more guys for me to be with.

09:10So I'm waiting for you to put me with a woman now.

09:13But she obviously didn't get the joke because she looked at me and she just nodded and she walked away.

09:20There was a headline later that came out that said Nargis Factory waiting to turn into a lesbian.

09:27I was like, OK, first of all, you insinuated that I'm a whore.

09:32Second of all, I tried to make a joke, but I was being sarcastic.

09:35And now you put it in a newspaper and you didn't even get my joke.

09:39I'm like, so I'm a whore and I'm not even funny.

09:42Like, what?

09:43I'm like, my self-esteem was just shattered.

09:46So people who want to come to India and act, they definitely need to learn the language and cultural stuff.

09:53Like dancing was very interesting because we don't have, you know, the type of dancing that you guys have.

10:00The way that we move our hips in maybe the United States, because the way our music is, is very different than the way Bollywood moves.

10:10So there's a lot, you know, it wasn't easy.

10:13I think there was a lot to learn.

10:15So definitely be prepared and don't fall for people's.

10:21I'll make you famous if you meet me at a hotel line.

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