The Ba***ds of Bollywood actress Sahher Bambba on survival & finding her place in Bollywood

When Sahher Bambba made her debut in 2019, the future looked promising. A fresh face with big dreams, she seemed ready to carve her place in Bollywood. But just as her journey began, the world shut down. The pandemic brought the film industry to a standstill, and for someone only starting out, the pause was especially brutal. “It’s been quite a journey. Quite the wait, actually. It was a little depressing,” she admits. “No work, no opportunities. I had to go back home. I wasn’t even in Mumbai; I was in Shimla for almost two years.”

Returning wasn’t easy. Even when auditions resumed, the odds rarely fell in her favor. “I’d always make it to the shortlist,” she says, “but someone else would get cast. It was disheartening. I remember being at a point where I genuinely asked myself, ‘Is this even meant for me? Am I even cut out for this?’”


However, the OTT boom brought new hope, with Sahher landing a role in The Empire (2021). “But I couldn’t have asked for a better project than Ba**ds of Bollywood* to come my way. When the casting directors reached out to test for it, I didn’t think much of it. I thought I’d audition, and not get it. It felt too good to be true. The final round of audition was taken by Aryan Khan (director of the show). It was a full-day audition. Two long scenes, and he wanted to see every possible variation. It was grueling. But looking back, that’s the day everything changed.”



Now part of a star-studded ensemble, Sahher finally feels like she belongs to the world she once admired from the outside. Her eyes light up when asked if she feels like an insider. “Yes, in a way I do. Recently, I’ve been meeting so many people from the industry, and everyone’s been so kind. I met Sushmita Sen ma’am and she said such lovely things. That meant a lot. I’d say Aryan and Shah Rukh Khan sir, from the get-go, have been incredibly sweet.”