How Anula Navlekar stood her ground, honed her skills, and found herself playing a challenging role amid a diverse cast.
It’s an Abhishek Chaubey project. There’s Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sen Sharma. Rock solid from the word go. So when a fresh face can make itself known, noticed, and thought of amidst a sea of established talent, the promise is abundant. In Netflix’s Killer Soup, a story that has very little to do with soup and a lot to do with conspiracy and thrill, actor Anula Navlekar plays Apeksha Shetty aka Apu, stuck between dealing with her crazy family, and harbouring her dream to study art in Paris, fighting for what she wants.
From summer camp plays at the age of six to standing amid industry stalwarts, Navlekar lets us in on the actor-across-mediums life.
Grazia: Tell us about when you started out, what’s your journey been so far.
Anula Navlekar: I actually started training very young, but never took acting seriously as a career. I was moving between Delhi and Bengaluru a lot. I was always in the theatre department in high school, in college, and also directed plays. I got my first legit role, though, when I was in the eleventh grade, when B.A. Pass (2012) came my way. Even then, I wasn’t thinking of acting as a career. Even though my parents were supportive, I always thought acting is a very glamorous
profession, and that’s not me. But eventually after I did Brahman Naman (2016), I met a couple of actors who had trained in acting schools and told me about the work it takes, and realised that I can have a completely different approach to this as a career. I can do so many things in this industry. I took some workshops in Bengaluru, applied to programs abroad, and eventually got into Yale School of Drama. I got Killer Soup right after Yale.
G: Apu was quite a different character to make a mainstream debut of sorts with. What was it about the character that made you want to do it?
AN: I don’t think I was thinking of it in the terms of it being my ‘break’, and I still don’t consider it as my break into the mainstream space. But just reading the script as an adult woman in her 20s, I connected to Apu immediately. She has such a dysfunctional family, a dysfunctional relationship with her father, and she is trying to make her own space, make her own identity in the middle of all this chaos. I related to that – to figuring out life for yourself instead of waiting for someone to tell you what to do.
G: You’ve worked in short films, theatre, and now OTT. How has working across mediums helped you with your craft?
AN: I think that’s something I’m still figuring. But the more I work in different mediums, the more I understand that what I have in my control is my body and my instrument – like how I use my voice or my emotions, my memory. I’m learning that depending on the medium you’re acting in, you have to adapt. It’s a learning process that goes on forever.
G: From the blurring of lines between regional and mainstream cinema, to more international exposure as well as opening up of OTT, how does the diversity today help you as an actor?
AN: I think it’s been a long time coming. We’re seeing representation from different communities and cultures, and it’s important because when you are seeing something normalised on screen, you want to make sure you’re normalising something realistic and positive. Even Killer Soup had such a diverse cast. It’s an exciting time to be an artiste thanks to this crossover happening on a global level. I’m here for it.
It’s an Abhishek Chaubey project. There’s Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sen Sharma. Rock solid from the word go. So when a fresh face can make itself known, noticed, and thought of amidst a sea of established talent, the promise is abundant. In Netflix’s Killer Soup, a story that has very little to do with soup and a lot to do with conspiracy and thrill, actor Anula Navlekar plays Apeksha Shetty aka Apu, stuck between dealing with her crazy family, and harbouring her dream to study art in Paris, fighting for what she wants.
From summer camp plays at the age of six to standing amid industry stalwarts, Navlekar lets us in on the actor-across-mediums life.
Grazia: Tell us about when you started out, what’s your journey been so far.
Anula Navlekar: I actually started training very young, but never took acting seriously as a career. I was moving between Delhi and Bengaluru a lot. I was always in the theatre department in high school, in college, and also directed plays. I got my first legit role, though, when I was in the eleventh grade, when B.A. Pass (2012) came my way. Even then, I wasn’t thinking of acting as a career. Even though my parents were supportive, I always thought acting is a very glamorous
profession, and that’s not me. But eventually after I did Brahman Naman (2016), I met a couple of actors who had trained in acting schools and told me about the work it takes, and realised that I can have a completely different approach to this as a career. I can do so many things in this industry. I took some workshops in Bengaluru, applied to programs abroad, and eventually got into Yale School of Drama. I got Killer Soup right after Yale.
G: Apu was quite a different character to make a mainstream debut of sorts with. What was it about the character that made you want to do it?
AN: I don’t think I was thinking of it in the terms of it being my ‘break’, and I still don’t consider it as my break into the mainstream space. But just reading the script as an adult woman in her 20s, I connected to Apu immediately. She has such a dysfunctional family, a dysfunctional relationship with her father, and she is trying to make her own space, make her own identity in the middle of all this chaos. I related to that – to figuring out life for yourself instead of waiting for someone to tell you what to do.
G: You’ve worked in short films, theatre, and now OTT. How has working across mediums helped you with your craft?
AN: I think that’s something I’m still figuring. But the more I work in different mediums, the more I understand that what I have in my control is my body and my instrument – like how I use my voice or my emotions, my memory. I’m learning that depending on the medium you’re acting in, you have to adapt. It’s a learning process that goes on forever.
G: From the blurring of lines between regional and mainstream cinema, to more international exposure as well as opening up of OTT, how does the diversity today help you as an actor?
AN: I think it’s been a long time coming. We’re seeing representation from different communities and cultures, and it’s important because when you are seeing something normalised on screen, you want to make sure you’re normalising something realistic and positive. Even Killer Soup had such a diverse cast. It’s an exciting time to be an artiste thanks to this crossover happening on a global level. I’m here for it.
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