Exclusive -Nia Sharma on taking drastic steps for perfect 'Suhagan Chudail' look:I went without food and had no water for 12 hours as long as I’ve shot for this

Nia Sharma has made a stunning comeback to television with her new show, "Suhagan Chudail," where her sizzling avatar is garnering attention. Excited to return to the small screen after a brief break, Nia shared insights in an exclusive interview with ETimes TV. She revealed that she initially declined the offer but eventually decided to take it on. To fully embody the character of a sultry Chudail, Nia went to great lengths, including losing weight and giving up water and food. Reflecting on her decade-long career, she spoke about her journey from playing Maanvi to Nishigandha.

I’m thrilled to be part of Suhagan Chudail. Right from the first promo which had me saying “Aarahi hoon Main” to playing the titular role so I feel a sense of responsibility that I’m actually heading the whole show on my shoulders. I feel I kind of deserve this after all these years of hard work, where the show is totally centred around me and I’m kind of looked upon as the show’s face. It feels nice.

There will always be pressure. Television shows unfortunately are always driven by TRPs, no matter how good a product you have made, or how huge a show you have made. If it doesn’t transform into TRP, things go South, nobody is happy on the show. So always the aim is whatever product you are making, it should find audience love, it should relate with the audience so that you can fetch as many viewers as you want.

Even with Suhagan Chudail, the name itself is so trippy that no matter who hears this show’s name it can never go unnoticed. Once you hear the show’s name is Suhagan Chudail, you would say ye kya show hai? Everybody is going to trip over it and so did I. When I first heard it, my reaction was I’m not going to be a part of a show like Suhagan Chudail. Who does that? With all my heart I said no to it? Only to be a part of this show 7 meetings later. I was the Chudail and was happily convinced.

They told me Nia whatever you are saying no to is actually made for you. They wanted a girl who sways men away. The girl should have a USP, she should be so attractive that every guy should fall for her. That’s the kind of Chudail they wanted for the show. This Chudail had to be sultry, who can just play around with her beauty and mesmerise men. The agenda of this Chudail is to find 16 shringar. She has to kill 16 husbands of her to attain those 16 shringar. 15 she has already killed and now she has only one guy left to kill which will get her the 16th shingaar that is the sindoor. After that she will be the most beautiful and the most powerful witch ever.

Fortunately, when the show came in my hand, I was already into workout mode. The amount of hard work that I’ve put in the last 3 years has started to pay off now and it is showing. I’m glad I worked well on myself, I was ready to be on a show like Suhagan Chudail. The outfit they have made for me is for my body, they have especially crafted it for my body keeping my figure, waistline in mind. Now, I cannot not make an effort to just give that grace to that outfit.

I was a little apprehensive with my stomach coming out of my outfit on the promo day, so I stopped eating. I went without food, I had no water for 12 hours as long as I’ve shot for this show. I’ve been shooting solo, main yaa toh ped par latki hoon Yaa Baithi hoon. Lot of beauty shots were required for this show and I went all out. I have to make all those sacrifices, no matter if I was feeling like I could faint the next moment or it is not going to be healthy, I still went ahead.

During the making of the show I lost 2 more kgs and my stomach was right in. I’m not promoting this stupidity, I did it for myself. I’m on screen, I’ve to do whatever it takes to just get those results. I remember my weight dropped to 50 and for the last 2 years I’ve been trying but it was not happening. I don’t lose weight, I’m somebody I tone up. I don’t lose weight. I came home, I’m jumping in the house saying listen mom, Mera weight kuam hogaya.

This character requires this toned body. Because when I’m sitting those bulges near the stomach would start coming out. Everything felt so right on me. I’ve experimented with my makeup also, wing eyeliner, and used a lot of Kajals. To make Nishigandha as attractive as it can be, I put in a lot of effort. The show looks great, I’m looking very nice and I’m happy. And I’m not bragging when you have put in lots of hard-work and it pays off, it feels nice.

If the makers want to bank on my name or if they think there is a certain oomph that I could bring to the table that is their thing. It is not like I am drilling that thought in their head. It is probably because of the way I’ve grown in my career, how I’ve grown in my life. They offered me Suhagan Chudail because they were so convinced for me to be the Chudail, more than me they were convinced. I think that is their faith in me. I’ve just grown up to be this girl who has played the protagonist in all these years, who can also transform into this and that’s called evolving.

I can’t worry about not looking like an innocent girl. Next time if I’m offered to play a girl-next-door, I will play that as an actor. That is my forte. Makers of Suhagan Chudail also told me Nia you have played the protagonist for all your life and there is nothing that you have not done. Playing this Chudail was not easy for me, here I felt like a rookie. I had to hold the director’s hand and it took me time to get into Nishigandha’s character.

Nishigandha is full of herself and has swag and for doing this you need to have certain confidence. Did I have this confidence back then? No. When I was doing Ek Hazaaron Mein and playing Maanvi, I was this girl who did not know how to do my makeup. From that to this I have transformed. I’m happy I’ve not been typecast. I have done Maanvi also and now I’m playing this sultry Chudail.