Nora Fatehi: A casting agent told me 'We don't need you here; go back'

Nora Fatehi

Nora Fatehi is a name most of us are aware of. Be it her dance moves in the Dilbar remix, or watching her groove to Saki Saki, Fatehi has made a name for herself in India and in the Hindi film industry. But it wasn't easy for the actress when she first came to India.

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Nora Fatehi opened up about her struggle and experience of being bullied when she came to India. The actress spoke about how difficult it is for foreigners to adapt to India and be accepted here. She told the entertainment portal, "Life for foreigners in India is very difficult. We go through a lot and people don't even know. They take our money. It's happened to me. I remember my first agency who got me here from Canada. They were really aggressive in terms of behaviour and I didn't feel like I was guided the right way. So I wanted to leave them and in order to do that, they told me 'we are not going to give you your money' And I lost 20 lakhs at that time, which I had made from my ad campaigns. But I thought sacrificing it would be for a bigger picture."

Losing money was just one of the many struggles Nora faced. She spoke about how she lived in a flat with eight other girls. Not only was she 'freaked out', but she also had her passport stolen by her roommates. Nora faced humiliation as she didn't know the language as well. She recalls, "I started learning Hindi but the auditions were very traumatic for me. I wasn't really mentally prepared and I made a fool of myself. People were really unforgiving. They wouldn't just be mean, they would laugh in front of my face as if I'm some circus. They would bully me. There was this one casting agent who once told me, 'We don't need you here. Go back'. I'll never forget that."

While now she may joke about these things with her friends, Nora recalls how earlier, during her audition days, she would cry her eyes out while on her way home.

On the work front, Nora Fatehi will be playing a pivotal role in Batla House which is set to release on August 15, 2019. She will also be seen in the Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Street Dancer 3D. In a recent interview, Nora said that bagging the opportunity to dance on the remake of O Saki Saki is no less than a dream. She said, "Getting the opportunity to be able to perform on a song like 'saaki', which has been made on such an epic level by Tanishk, and sung by Neha and Tulsi, is a dream. The way Tanishk has composed this song is out of this world and I knew that visually I'd have to match up. I learnt to dance with fire fans for the first time in only three days."

Also read: O Saki Saki song: Nora Fatehi challenges Varun Dhawan to do its hook step

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates