Cruising on the wave of success

Elnaaz Norouzi, the Iranian actress and model, has been the face of many brands such as Thums Up, Titan Raga, Myntraz Samsung, Being Human, Fiama Di Willis, Dior amongst others. Elnaaz made her debut in films with the Punjabi hit 'KhidoKhundi'.

However, her breakthrough performance came in the 2018 superhit web series 'Sacred Games' where she featured alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Saif Ali Khan. She will also be a part of 'Sacred Games 2' which will be streamed soon on Netflix.

She was also one of the leads in Zee5's flagship show 'Abhay' opposite Kunal Khemmu. She has featured in multiple music videos, most notably being 'Dillagi' with Ranjit Bawa and 'Made in India' with Guru Randhawa.

Excerpts from an interview:

Tell us about your journey from Iran to India?

My journey actually started in Iran. From there I moved to Germany. That's where I studied, and I grew up. I had already started watching Bollywood films in Iran. In Germany, I bought all the CDs and DVDs.

Once I finished school and graduated, I decided to come to India, and start working here as a model. Then I pursued acting.

What inspired you to be an actor?

I always wanted to be able to get into someone else's shoes. I always wanted to know why this person is doing this thing in a certain way. Or even when it came to mental illness, I always wanted to know how is it that a person reacts to it in a certain way.

Psychology always interested me as well. So, what is it that I have to do to be someone else? How would I have to feel to act like that person?

I always wanted to know how people think what they think, why do they react, why is this person doing this differently than me. This inspired me to be an actor mostly.

How do you prepare for roles?

I prepare for my roles depending on what it needs and what kind of a role it is. If it is action, I would be going to do martial arts and do the action. If it requires you to learn a new language like I did for my Punjabi film, I prepared by getting a teacher, learning Punjabi.

It depends on what kind of a role it is. But I always do what the character demands. For me, it's very important to write at least two pages of how this character will be and how the person is. So that's my number 1 what I always do.

Do you find any difficulty while reciting regional dialogues?

In the beginning, it was very, very difficult for me because I had to understand what I am saying and then say what it. But now it has become very easy because I read Devanagari. I mostly ask for my scenes on set every day in Devanagari.

What do you love about your character in 'Sacred Games'?

You see them as two characters as I play Jameela and Zoya. It's very interesting and very different from each other. It's one person but Jameela is a young, vulnerable girl who has no idea what's going to happen and Zoya has seen it all.

She knows how to take care of herself. So, what you love about that if that first of all I am playing two different emotions and two different people.

The other thing is that it's very close to my life in the sense that even I was a very young girl who didn't know anything, and she came to Mumbai and she became an actor and the way Zoya went about is obviously different. It's a little close to my heart and that's what I love about it.

What can the audience expect from season 2 of 'Sacred Games'?

I feel season two will be much bigger than season 1. There are a lot of questions that the audience has right now will be answered. There are a lot of new characters and a lot about Jameela.

How different is it to act in a movie and to act in a web series?

We shoot it the same way. A web series takes a lot more time to shoot. We shoot a lot more time with the crew and the team.

You get to know a lot about the character because you are shooting about 100 days and about 30-40 days for a movie. But the scale is the same especially about 'Sacred Games'.

What do you do when you are not working?

When I am not working, I read a lot of books, I keep working on my Hindi. I have started my action training now. I got to the gym. I have my dance classes. I have a lot of meetings.

What is the hardest part of being a celebrity?

I think the hardest part of being a celebrity that you always have to be sure that you have to be aware that you are an influencer.

People look up to you. Be sure that you are supporting the right thing. When brands are coming to me, I have to do a lot of background check. Is the brand suiting my image? Is that brand I support.

Is that brand suiting my image? All of these things as a celebrity you have to pay attention to. You can't only think about yourself. You have to think about everyone

What are your future projects?

At the moment this year, I have two films lined up and one more series. But all that has to be announced and unfortunately, I can't disclose anything yet.