Just a little over a week after Hansal Mehta’s ‘Scoop’ was released on the streaming platform Netflix, Karishma Tanna, who plays the titular role of crime reporter Jagruti Pathak implicated for the murder of a fellow journalist, made a quick weekend trip with her husband Varun Bangera to Dubai. Within minutes of clearing passport control, Karishma Tanna found herself surrounded by smiling faces and friendly greetings from fellow travellers who had watched the series. Once word spread that the actor was on her way to the exit gates, crowds swelled up.
“I was shocked! There were people en route to Canada and the USA, and they told me they were binge-watching the show. The following date I was out on a dinner date, and we had people walking up to us constantly with very kind compliments,” says Karishma Tanna.
For this character, Karishma Tanna had to undertake the toughest preparation of her life. In order to sink her teeth into the character of an ambitious journalist who would go to any length to get a scoop, she frequented police stations, shadowed crime reporters in the newsroom and hung out at the Press Club in Mumbai. “Even though I have been working in a cut-throat entertainment industry, I have never been overly ambitious so I could not draw from any personal experience of mine. But, I went all out to ensure it was a job well done. I also had to be responsible because it is based on a true story and someone's life,” says Karishma Tanna.
Her hard work paid off when she started receiving calls from filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Mahesh Bhatt, and Nikhil Advani. Some of the compliments were, “Karishma Tanna - you have been a revelation”, “This is Karishma Tanna 2.0”, “Phor dala hain”, “Where was this Karishma for so long?”
For Karishma Tanna, the endeavour has always been to have a varied resume and push herself to do roles that she could never imagine herself in. “As an actor no matter how many years you put in, you are always learning something new on the job. I'm still very hungry as a performer, and looking forward to learning from different directors and producers as I go along,” she says.
As she continues to enjoy the adulation from fans across the globe, the future looks exciting. The success of ‘Scoop’ has led to many calls and requests for meetings from casting directors and filmmakers. Similar appreciation also came her way after the massive success of ‘Sanju’ and her stint inside the ‘Bigg Boss’ house, but hardly did that materialise into productive work. In interviews, Karishma Tanna even mentioned that she was jobless for a long time after the superlative success of the Rajkumar Hirani directorial. Her success on Salman Khan’s show was also shadowed by reports and stories about her relationship with another fellow contestant on the show.
Well, highs and lows are a part and parcel of the job. However, with ‘Scoop’ let’s wait and watch whether she is able to break the jinx and able to convert this success into similarly more brilliant performances in many more projects.
