Aahana Kumra: I was out of work for two years because I don’t belong to any camps in Bollywood
Actor Aahana S Kumra has spoken out about the existence of Bollywood camps, claiming they have impacted her career. She said actors who hang out with a certain set of people get hired again and again, and that she was out of work for two years because she is not part of any of those circles. Kumra said she has never really been part of any of these camps in the film industry, and that she channelled her energy into creating content for herself during her lean phase.
The conversation around the existence of Bollywood camps has come under the spotlight after actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas said that she was “cornered in the industry” at one point in time. Singer Armaan Mallik also spoke about the same in a series of tweets and how it directly impacted his work.
Now, actor Aahana S Kumra too shares that this is a regular practice and surely not a myth. In fact, because of campism, she claims that she was out of work.
“At the moment, I am shooting for a project in Dehradun. But I didn’t get any work for the last two years. I didn’t shoot for a series or anything. I was not being approached for roles. In the industry, I have noticed that actors who hang out with a certain set of people get hired again and again. I am not part of any of that circle. So if you ask me, if it affects me getting me? I’d say yes, it does,” says the actor, adding, “I don’t go to the parties, or award shows. Our industry is too superficial. And it’s nice to actually come out of Mumbai. I have been very happy that I have been in Uttarakhand for the past one month. It’s nice to meet people outside of showbiz. I felt that normalcy in my life was going away, which has come back after spending the time here in Dehradun.”
Furthermore, Kumra shares that she has never really been part of any of these camps in the film industry. “I don’t know who are the people in which camps. For me, my camp is my close friends and my college friends. When I work with my colleagues, we finish our work, have a good time, and go back to our home,” she says and goes on to admit, “It also bothers that people have made such a circus out of this business. It cannot be so unreal. it does exist, and does bother me where I am like, ‘Whoa, you are going to hire this actor just because he/she hangs out with a certain star’, but what can we do about it.”
However, Kumra, who has appeared in projects such as Inside Edge, It Happened In Hong Kong, Marzi, Betaal, Sandwiched Forever and Call My Agent, is not the one to give up. She reveals that during her lean phase, she channelled her energy into something positive and decided to create content for herself.
“It gave me time to write. I travelled a lot, and the more I stepped out of the city, I realised that there are so many stories…. I decided that I am not going to beg in front of people to hire me. I feel they will hire me when they really need to, even though it is really unnatural that people just don’t consider you even after you have worked so much. They just disregard you. Till then, I am turning a writer, and working on a story,” ends the 37-year-old.