4 minutes of readingNew DelhiJul 27, 2026 04:48 pm IST
Niharika NM, who is gearing up for her upcoming film Bhai tera Star Hai opposite Raghav Juyal, has started her journey as a content creator. However, he revealed in a recent interview that making humorous reels and sketches was not his ultimate goal. The actor-influencer wanted to become an actor, but the journey as a newcomer was challenging in Bollywood. He also recalled turning down a movie because of its “privacy clause.”
During a chat with News18, he shared, “When I moved to Mumbai three or four years ago, I spent three years training in a production house. I went to film school and have a background in theatre.”
The actor and content creator continued, “I definitely wanted to give acting a try. I didn’t know how far I would go or what exactly I wanted to do. All I knew was that I was passionate about it and I enjoyed it.” But she soon decided to stop fighting for an offer in Bollywood and began auditioning in southern cinema, involving the unrealistic beauty standards of the Hindi film industry.
“I first tried it in Hindi films, but I didn’t like the standards set for women – how they should look or what their skin tone should be. I thought that was not the space I should fight in. It was also a very crowded space,” she said.
READ ALSO | Raghav Juyal defends Niharika NM amid actor-influencer debate: ‘How can you judge?’
Niharika later signed a three-film deal with Karthik Subbaraj’s production house Stone Bench Films. He added, “But halfway through my training process with them, I turned down really good South films that did wonders at the box office. I couldn’t believe it! I was bound by a contract. That will remain one of my biggest regrets. But I am happy for whoever did it. And once the contract was over, there was nothing to stop me. Then I did felography as a raita through films in different languages.”
But that was another difficult path to walk as I didn’t want to do intimate scenes on screen. “There were a lot of reasons why I got rejected from movies. It all sounds hilarious at this point. There was one particular movie I was supposed to do. This great director was making it. I grew up watching him. He hand-picked me. I had auditioned for the role. The look test was done.”
Story continues below this ad.
She shared, “The contract was sent to my house and I signed it. There was an intimacy clause in it and I told them that I didn’t feel comfortable doing intimacy on screen. They were okay with that and were planning to go ahead with a body double. But the actor didn’t agree to do the scene with a body double. He wasn’t interested. It was his decision. Then it became an either/or situation.”
About Niharika NM
Niharika NM marked her international debut with a guest voice role in the seventh season of the American comedy Big Mouth in 2023. She also made her southern debut in the Tamil film Perusu last year, followed by Mithra Mandali and Idhayam Murali.
His upcoming film Bhai Tera Star Hai will hit the theaters on July 30. Directed by Vivek B Agarwal, the comedy-drama also stars Sanjay Kapoor and Nikki Walia.
