1. Home
2. 
3. Lifestyle
4. 
5. Personalities
6. 
7. It’s her time to shine: Hasleen Kaur!

Followed by life on the runaways and being crowned Miss India Earth in 2011, she made her Bollywood debut in 2014 with the film Karle Pyaar Karle. Hasleen Kaur garnered immense love and appreciation from critics as well as the audience from her latest Netflix original series CAT.

After a rocky road, the actress has arrived on the acting stage with a rather strong screen presence and impressive performance. What kept her going was her hunger and love for her craft and a staunch will to never give up! Being in the fashion as well as film industry for more than a decade now, the actress spills all the tea about her modelling days, her hardships, and her evolution as an actor.

Here is an excerpt from our exclusive conversation with Hasleen Kaur on her journey from the crown to cinema and her upcoming projects…

What inspired you to participate in Miss India? And was acting always a childhood dream?

Acting or being on stage, and participating in school dramas, dance, and music competitions have always been part of growing up. If not acting per se, but performing on stage - whether classical dance, singing, or dramatics was always something I loved. Watching the Miss India pageant all while growing up and seeing so many daughters of Army, Navy, and Air force officers making it, made me want to do it too. Gul Panag, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen, and Neha Dhupia - all were my inspirations.

When you step into a space with all the glitz, glamour, and competition, it can get overwhelming. How did you tackle it?

I loved every bit of it - the competition, glamour, even the hardships, honestly. When you love what you do, anything that overwhelms you leaves you with a beautiful reward. One should be mentally strong to persevere and focus on the goal, never give up!

Every actor has dull moments, where things don’t just seem to work out. Did you go through something like this and how did you navigate yourself through it?

Yes. I faced many rejections despite numerous auditions and meetings. At times I felt, I was making my best efforts but that wasn’t getting across. This profession can de-motivate easily. What kept me grounded were the people I met on my journey, all were working hard, struggling, and working on their craft. I put my head down and kept learning.

What was the moment you felt you got the recognition you wanted as an actor?

When Luv Ranjan recommended me to Balwinder Singh Janjua for CAT. No better way to get work, based on your performance than being seen by one director and told to another. No audition can do justice to an actor either

How do you define beauty?

Inner happiness. Only when you’re truly happy within will you reflect it on the outside and that to me makes people the most beautiful.

How do you keep yourself fit? What is your wellness philosophy?

Eating a colourful diet. I am a vegetarian but I still, try and get my proteins, carbs, fat, vitamins, and minerals through food and sometimes supplementation also. Working out is also very important even if it’s only 3-4 times a week. Sleeping well and lots of hydration. And yes, I am trying to restrict my phone time too.

You’ve worked with actors like Randeep Hooda and Janhnvi Kapoor how was the experience?

Phenomenal! These are actors who come with experience and the right background. There’s so much to learn from them, both on-screen and off-screen. The way they are as humans, how to learn, how they navigate through work and difficult scenes, how they treat people around them, how they deliver stellar performances, and what their homework is behind it all. I love watching actors at work.

What’s next for you? Can you tell us something about your upcoming projects?

After CAT and Mili, you’ll be seeing me in Luv Ranjan’s Tu Jhooti Main Makkar starring Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, and Boney Kapoor. It was so much fun to work with all of them. Each one of them is such a distinct actor and character in the film, which the audiences will love. I particularly enjoyed playing my character, which is also quite like me in real life.