Art & Entertainment

Irrfan Khan Supported Me In Making Contacts In Hollywood, Says Nitu Chandra

Actress Nitu Chandra spoke on how late actor Irrfan Khan supported her in Hollywood and helped make a firm foundation.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Nitu Chandra Srivastava
info_icon

Actress Nitu Chandra has spoken about how late actor Irrfan Khan assisted her in forming connections in Los Angeles, United States. In a new interview, Chandra said that Irrfan also played a key role in laying the groundwork for his career in Hollywood.

Chandra made her Hollywood debut in the film 'Never Back Down: Revolt', which was released in 2021. Chandra played Jaya in the film, who is kidnapped and forced to fight in an underground fighting club in order to survive. Last year, Kellie Madison directed and Audrey Arkins wrote the picture, which was released.

In an interview with Peeping Moon, Chandra said, "My journey till now has been all about doing something when I think about it instead of just sitting. When I was in New York, I messaged Irrfan sir who was shooting in London in 2017. I told him that people call me a Brazilian, Lebanon and Italian too, so I was thinking of going to LA and trying my luck there. He connected me to his agents. That’s how I made contacts there." When it comes to Khan's support in Hollywood,, Chandra said: “He made the foundation strong.”

She also added, "They told me if I have to work in Hollywood, I have to live in the US. Since I was a trained martial artist, I was looking at doing action stuff, which wasn’t happening much in India. That was one of the genres I wanted to try. It felt incomplete that being a martial artist, I couldn’t do action. That’s how I went out to make the world a platform and create opportunities globally." 

In an interview with Hindustan Times last year, Chandra had spoken about her film. “I met the producer David Zelon (Mandalay Pictures, who have produced the franchise) at the screening of Bad Boys. After I was introduced to him, we began chatting about Indian actors in Hollywood films. I just happened to tell him that I always try to polish my skills. When he asked me to elaborate, I told him I am a black-belt 4th Dan in Taekwondo.”

She had also added, “By the end of our conversation, David asked them to script the character around me. That is how Jaya's character has been written. Then, we stayed in London for three weeks and later shot it. I completed the film and came back a month ago.” 

'Kucch Luv Jaisaa', in which Chandra co-starred with actors Shefali Shah, Rahul Bose, and Sumeet Raghavan, was her most recent Hindi film. 'Garam Masala' (2005), 'Traffic Signal' (2007), 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye' (2008), and 'Apartment' are among the films in which she has appeared.

'Mithila Makhaan' was released by the actor's own production company, Champaran Talkies. Nitin Chandra, her brother, directed the film, which won a National Film Award.