Did you know that Saiyami Kher would never have become an actor if Saina Nehwal didn’t hammer her in a badminton tournament? Nihal Ranjit caught up with the actor to discuss her love of cricket, triathlons and of course movies. Check it out. #BrutSauce
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00:00There she is. Hi, hi, hi. How are you? Very well, how are you? I'm great.
00:13Oh wow, you have such an artsy house. It's very pretty. Thank you for inviting me.
00:18This, I want to talk about this immediately. What is happening here? Well, I am obsessed with this
00:25game of cricket. Ah, cricket, I'm familiar. Yeah, I'm totally obsessed. This is my de-stressing
00:31corner of the house. Okay. I don't know, is there a bat lying around there? Yes, of course. Let me
00:36impress you with some of my technique. How does this work though? So this is a hanging ball,
00:41it's basically to get your stroke in correct. Yeah, so one would stand here? No, you can stand
00:46here, the other way around. And then you would just? Knock around, yes. Oh, you're impressed
00:52with that form? It has to go on for a little longer. Oh, you have to keep tapping it, is it?
00:57Yeah, there we go. Yeah. Okay. So you keep tapping it to, but very good, right in the middle of the
01:03bat. It's natural, come on. Right in the middle of the bat. Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you. My house
01:08has a lot of sporting elements to it, which my sister wants to throw me out of the house for.
01:12Okay. Because I have my bike just like lying around here. It's too precious, I can't leave
01:18it down. For sure. I've noticed, oh, is this hamper for me? You can go for it, please. Please
01:24go for it. Yeah, appreciate it. No, I have a film that released two days ago. Yeah. So this is
01:29one of the stills that my DOP sent me with the hamper. Okay. Yeah. Oh, cool pose. The flowers
01:36there are very special. I'm not letting them go because Amitji, Mr Bachchan sent that to me post
01:41the film. Oh, wow. With that letter that all actors just dream of. That's beautiful. So, the
01:48flowers are special. So, you're just keeping it there. I'm just keeping them there. Never letting
01:51it go. Never letting it go. It'll rot there for years, but it's going to be there. Also, you guys
01:55might notice I am a little out of breath. That is because the lift was not working. So, I had to
01:59climb 23 flights of stairs to get here, but that's fine. Can we head to the kitchen? See, I make sure
02:05that everyone who comes home does their fitness routine for the day. Of course. So, it's only for
02:11you all that I've made the elevator switch top. Thank you. I recently just painted this myself.
02:17I said, okay, I have nothing to do. So, let's paint the wall in the house. Okay. So, I painted this
02:21myself. But what if you were cooking something special? You were having friends over. What's
02:26your go-to meal you would prepare? Meal? I mean, I'm big into baking. So, there'll always be some
02:32chocolate brownie or like an apple pie or apple crumble. For sure. Or mousse. You know, I'm into
02:37desserts big time. But with regards to a meal, I'd love to try some. Yeah, if I'd known before,
02:43I would have made some. Okay. Can we head upstairs? Yes, of course.
02:55This is my chill zone. Another bike. Another bike. This is my trainer has just gone into repair,
03:01but the bike turns over. Yeah. And this is a road bike that was a mountain bike.
03:07So, you're into biking a lot? I'm training for a trial-a-thon. So, I'm training for the Ironman.
03:13Oh, wow. So, that's biking, running and swimming. Yes. Okay. What's the easiest for you in the
03:17triathlon? Running. Running used to be my thing. And your weakest would be? Biking. Biking. Biking's
03:23my weakest. I've just come back from a bike trip in Italy. So, we did like a eight-day, 400
03:30kilometer and like 5,000 meters of a climb. 400 kilometers? Yeah, I was having a biking trip. Okay,
03:35yeah. So, just before the release. I have to talk about this. This is a harmonium. Yes. Do you play
03:45this? I do like my voice lessons for my acting on this. Yeah. So, just to get your pitch a little
03:53lower. I tried doing this every morning. Okay. I don't sing. I can't sing to save my life. But yeah,
04:00this is just to get like if this is where we are. Yes, please. Then you keep going lower
04:07and then you keep kind of like going deeper and deeper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, this is something I
04:12do every morning. I think it also just calms me down. A lot of de-stressing I'm seeing in your
04:18life. Yes. That you need. Okay. So, is that the only performance for us? Those three chords? Oh,
04:22yeah, yeah. That's the only performance. That's all we get? There's just the lowering. Like I said,
04:25I can't sing to save my life. Okay, no worries. No worries. So, now we're going to head into the
04:29infamous treadmill room. Yes. Okay. So, it's your bedroom. It's my bedroom. But there's also a
04:36treadmill. Yeah. Okay. So, this is the whole idea is when I wake up, I have to see my goal in front
04:44of me. So, this is the first thing you do. This is the first thing I do. So, then shall we head
04:49Shall we head downstairs? Yes.
04:55So, you know just seeing your house, it's like you said a lot of sports elements into it. So,
05:01let's dial back the clock. Where did that interest in sports sort of stem from?
05:06It was probably because of my father saying you know kids should go play sports. So, I ended up
05:11playing like eight, nine sports to college. Eight, nine sports? Yeah, yeah. So, I played like
05:17obviously badminton, I played cricket, handball, throwball, volleyball, basketball, athletics,
05:22swimming and table tennis. So, I ended up playing like by the end of it, the sports director was
05:27like I'm not giving you another shirt just wear what you're wearing for that. The same jersey?
05:31Yeah, the same jersey. Wow. But cricket is the sport that stood out most to you, I'm assuming.
05:37I have not coached in cricket surprisingly. So, I just picked it up with a boy who used to work at
05:42home. He taught me how to play. Yeah. I'm obsessed, overly obsessed as you can see all over my
05:47house. Yeah. I play a differently abled cricketer in the film that I've done called Ghoomar. Yeah.
05:52So, it was like the perfect mix of what I like doing is playing the sport and acting.
05:59So, like in your younger days like what was you were you playing mostly boys or also girls or
06:04what did that look like? There weren't too many girls to play with. Things have changed in a big
06:07way which I'm glad they have. The boy who taught me his name was Iqbal. He taught me how to play
06:13and then I used to kind of play with just boys who I used to play badminton with and just you
06:18know and then I got I was always looking to bunk school so I got like 10 girls and made a cricket
06:24team. We went up to the states, we won the states. You just decided you wanted to make a team?
06:31And bunk school. And so you rallied up 10 players and you won states? But like back in the day the
06:36boys were very supportive. They weren't like hey, you're just a girl. No, no they were. Hey, you're just a girl was the
06:42immediate reaction. The immediate reaction was hey, you're just a girl but then when I got them
06:47out on the first and second ball it was not the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was not the same at all.
06:52So, you're a bowler primarily? I bowl and bat. Okay. So, I'm an all-rounder. Of course, yeah. So then
06:58through all of this where did acting sort of get into the picture? So, acting got into the picture
07:03because I'm going to, it is my house so I'm going to sit like I'm at home. Please, yeah. But I basically
07:10used to play professional badminton and Saina Nehwal butchered me in like an under 15, under 16,
07:17under 16 game. Okay. So, I said okay this is can't be a profession because of I was, I was ranked
07:23India 8 or 9 under 16. So, Saina Nehwal was the one who broke your dreams? She didn't break my dreams but I
07:29was like that's where the calibre is. That's our headline, that's our headline right there. Wow, do
07:35you remember the score line? Yeah, I think it was 11-3, 11-2. Yikes! Something like that. You know I
07:41got into college because of sport but I played the sport in college but it was a lot of theatre that
07:47happened in Xavier's. Okay. He was very rich with his theatre. Yeah. So, I started acting and I'm
07:52somebody who is just generally sincere with what I'm told to do. I was modelling before that. So,
07:59it was beautiful. I was getting to travel to the best places in the world. I was getting paid for
08:04it as a 17-18 year old. So, from there then like auditions started coming in and then there was
08:10just rejection after, one rejection after the other. So, for almost two years I was only listening
08:16to no's until my debut film happened. Yeah. It's a very therapeutic process to act. With Ghoomar,
08:24I've pretty much spared my entire soul in it but you just get to, you just get to vomit out
08:31everything that you have bottled up inside as a person and I'm that person. I don't express too
08:36much. So, when the camera rolls, I know that I can put out everything that I have been holding in.
08:43And so then what was it like working with Abhishek Bachchan on the sets? How was he like?
08:48He is somebody who I am so fond of. Yeah. One is the professional side to him where everyone jokes
08:57around about how he is so funny and he plays the fool on set and those are the questions which are
09:02always asked. Yeah. He does that because he's so bloody prepared. Like he is so prepared when he
09:08comes on set that he has the time to fool around. Yeah. But as Abhishek Bachchan, the human that
09:14I've known for the last four-five years, he's just one of the finest, finest human beings I've met.
09:20People talk about the nepotism and the surname and you know all of that and it's come easy. He's
09:25gone through so many downs in his life which has taught me so much. So, we're now going to play a
09:32segment that we do. Okay. It's called Okay Boomer. A segment where we quiz our guests on some of the
09:38internet slang. Gen Z lingo. Terrible. Terrible as this. Most of our guests are so that shouldn't be a
09:45problem. The first word is Riz. I have no idea. I've heard it. Yeah, you heard it. So, now you got a guess.
09:52You got a guess. If you heard it, you could. I have no idea. What could it mean? What could Riz mean?
09:56Where have you heard it? I have no memory but I know I've heard the word somewhere. I mean if you
10:01remember the scoreline of you and Saina Nahua when you were 16, I'm sure you can remember what Riz means.
10:06No memory. Okay. Go for it. I'm just going to learn. Actually, this is a learning segment.
10:11I'm going to learn all these. Don't ruin it. Riz is basically if somebody has a lot of game
10:17and can flirt really well, they have a lot of Riz. Oh, I've not heard it then. Okay. Okay. Yeah, fine.
10:23First one wrong. Second one is Rona. Rona. What does Rona mean? I don't know the Hindi meaning of it.
10:34Okay. Well, it's short for coronavirus. So, if you have the virus, you're like I got the Rona.
10:40Ah, alright. Stop the cap. What does stop the cap mean? No, I need at least one guess from you. You
10:46can't just pass it all. What are you the Spanish football team? Yeah. So, stop the cap. What could
10:53that phrase mean? Stop talking ****. Okay, that's close. Close. It's actually stop lying. Yeah.
10:59Yeah. Close. Okay. That's good. That's good. Well done. Well done. I didn't say that. What does Addy mean?
11:07I have no idea. Don't go back to that. Come on. You were guessing. Addy. Like a dude. Like how?
11:13Like you're a dude. You're a dude. Yeah. You're like, okay. You're cool. You're cool. You're Addy.
11:20Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's incorrect. Addy. Addy is short form for address. Okay. Send me the Addy. Yeah,
11:28that I knew. Okay. But I mean, I didn't, that's hardly Gen Z. It's like a, it's like a. It's slang.
11:34It's slang but the Gen Z kids use it. Okay. But that's, it's a trick one. It's very like. Alright.
11:40Well, I'll give you an easy one now. Goat. Greatest of all time. Roger Federer. Yeah. Yes. Roger Federer.
11:47Why was that your first? He's the greatest of all time. Yeah. No one else. What about Nadar? I mean.
11:53I mean, heart of gold and the kindness and sweetest but that single hand backhand, no one has it.
11:59He's the greatest of all time. Fair, fair, fair. And Sachin Tendulkar. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen,
12:04she has gotten all of them incorrect. Give it up. Okay. But how much time would you,
12:11do you spend on Instagram or the internet? I'm not a phone person. I'm not somebody who's always
12:16in my phone. But yeah, I do my Instagram stalking quite often. Yeah. But I'm. Stalking? Who's the
12:23last person you stalked? Oh, it is Roger Federer. I'm trying to get my trailer to him. Okay. I'm
12:28trying all my ways to reach him. You're just jamming in the trailer.
12:34Okay. And so now for our last segment, I'm going to show you a couple of your older photos. All
12:40right. And the people want to hear some details of the instance. First one is this. With the goat
12:47himself. What was it like? So this was the smile says it all. Yeah. I met him in 2016 in the IPTL
12:56and I was sweating like my eyes like I was sweating in nervousness. I don't know what I was
13:00going to say because Roger Federer is like my hero. Spent a lot of money going to Wimbledon
13:06because I've gone for three years and I think it's I work to earn money to go and watch live
13:11sport. That's why I like making money. The next follow-up photo. Come on. Well, well, well. So this
13:18was, this was the third time I met him and I'm completely starstruck, completely. He's my childhood
13:27hero again. We went to have some biryani together. It was just a bunch of 10 of us. So the dinner
13:31date already happened? This is lunch but there were 10 other people, too many nine extra people
13:35there. I have improved. He watched my film last night and I was with him chatting away all night.
13:41How did that feel for you? Very surreal yeah because it was when I started acting when I was in
13:46Xaviers, I had only boyfriends and they laughed at me when I said oh I'm going to act. They said
13:51okay you act someday Sachin will watch your film. So it was just that completion to the full circle
13:58moment of him watching it and loving it. That ends the photo segment. I think it is time for me to
14:05get out of your hair. I had a lovely time. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for
14:11Yes, please take it away.
14:15See, all yours. You dropped something from the hat. No, that's fine. You can keep that.