'My feet are firmly planted on the ground'

Kubbra Sait is flying high with accolades pouring in for her gutsy performance as Cuckoo in Sacred Games. She talks about why the Netflix series has been a game-changer, and has only made her think of bettering herself as an actress - instead of basking in the adulation

In a role brimming over with startling twists and turns, she has knocked out an outstanding performance in the lately-premiered series on Netflix, Sacred Games. Here's welcoming Kubbra Sait, then, who could well prove to be a game-changer in the tried-and-tested Leviathan-like structure of Bollywood.
At the age of 35, she isn't a novice, though. An award-winning hostess of 'live' entertainment shows, a model, she had worked for a while as an accountant at the Microsoft office in Dubai. Followed by roles in Salman Khan movies like Ready and Sultan and the Emirati film City of Life, till she auditioned for the original Netflix series jointly helmed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, set in the underbelly of Mumbai. Raised in Bengaluru, her mother worked as a supermarket manager, permitting Kubbra to seek fame and fortune in show business. And Kubbra has now been garlanded with rave reviews and broader global recognition.
Sacred Games, adapted from a bestselling novel by Vikram Chandra, toplines Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte. The supporting ensemble cast is uniformly impressive, topped by the scene-stealer Kubbra as Cuckoo, a transgender cabaret dancer.
Since she's amassed a huge following on social media, it isn't a trying task at all to touch base with her. Here, then, are excerpts from a conversation with the surprise packet of the year:
Did you think twice before essaying a role which could possibly typecast and slot you into a tough cookie image?
I couldn't have chosen this role for myself. Something more than destiny made it happen. My intuition made me say yes. Earlier, I'd been warned that Ready was a bad choice, that I'd get stereotyped as a housemaid. I was also told I'd get stuck in the rut as an emcee. Mercifully, Sacred Games has been that big break every actress dreams about. Frankly, I couldn't have predicted the overwhelming response. The character of Cuckoo wasn't as beautifully written as it appears in the series, the lines were unfinished. Cuckoo evolved on the working set. She wore her confidence and her style with pride. Incidentally, the audition was a nightmare. I had to dance, and I dance like an overenthusiastic uncle. That was the make or break point. Anurag told me, if you give me a 4 on a scale of 10, I can pull you up to a 10. I laughed and said, you think very little of me, I'll give you a 7 on 10. He was delighted to hear that, but I felt I had shot myself in the toe. When I had to dance, I went numb, I couldn't eat, I felt hollow inside. I'm thrilled with the way the dances turned out, though!
The supporting cast has several strong performances. But the credit titles only identify the leads. How fair is that?
Honestly, the showstoppers are Saif, Nawaz and Radhika. Rarely does the supporting crew storm into the limelight. I'm sure none of us in the acting crew believed what this would snowball into. I realised its magnitude only when the series was premiered. For that brief moment, I was like, "Wow! This feels like we have created history." So, if your work is good, then credit doesn't matter, it's always an after fact.
Did you have any role model for Cuckoo?
None at all. I don't know of a female actor who has attempted this. Where would I find any real-life source to study from? I just needed to make Cuckoo as human as possible. She had feelings, she was resolute and yet vulnerable, she was a tease. She was confident, ruling over whoever, wherever and whenever she wanted to. I wanted her to be real.
Were you queasy at all about performing the audacious scenes?
The first directive was, if you feel uncomfortable, talk about it. If you hold your anxieties within you, everyone on the set will be uncomfortable. See, if I sign up for the role of a pilot and then refuse to fly an airplane, it would be unfair on my part. With audacious scenes, a huge amount of trust comes into play. Anurag and Nawaz are such beautiful people, I never felt I was doing something risqué.
My turnaround time was 10 days after the audition. I had no time to prepare. In hindsight, I wish I had. Perhaps the magic of the character was not knowing how to play it. It was music. it happened. It took the recipe of wonderful writers, phenomenal camera work, an incredible director, Nawazuddin and a great background score to make Cuckoo a starlet of substance.
How have you adapted to showbiz city? Any #MeToo moments?
I am not naïve or ignorant (enough) to say it doesn't exist. I'm sure it does. I would say women need to be more assertive. Leave the room. I have always said, your decision is yours and yours alone. If you can face yourself in the mirror the next morning, you're doing fine. In the unfortunate cases where we don't have a choice, we shouldn't waste a minute to expose these people. Call their bluff. It's high time we realised the courage within ourselves.
In a manner, the cabaret moll is an extension of the one enacted by Anushka Sharma in Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet. Were you asked to refer to it?
Not at all. Cuckoo is way more grungy than Rosie Noronha played by Anushka. We couldn't draw parallels. Cuckoo isn't even an elaborate character in the book. She is the result of the forward narrative and Anurag's play with shades of grey, which actually make her colourful.
Cuckoo is a legendary dancer of 1950s movies. Was the name, in a way, a homage to her?
For us, in the show, Cuckoo is a homage to Parveen Babi. She epitomised chutzpah, she was a diva. Just thinking of her opened up corridors in my mind that I didn't know existed.
Would you rather be associated with Bollywood feature films?
I am here to work. The exploration won't stop me from doing anything, on any platform. I wonder: if this was my best, then how should I outdo myself in the next project? I am soaking in the love, the generous reviews from so many critics and the very fact that we're talking about me today. Honestly, it all feels unreal.
What next?
I have two web series and Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boys. I will still host 'live' shows, climb mountains, jump off planes and dive. That's the plan. I have an upbringing, which I can safely say will ensure I have my head tightly screwed to my shoulders, and my feet firmly planted on the ground.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com