New Delhi: Aahana Kumra, who plays Amitabh Bachchan's reel-daughter Taruni in 'Yudh', admits that meeting Big B for the first time was "overwhelming" but she did not feel nervous to work with him.
Kumra may be new to the medium of television but she comes with a strong theatre background and credits her training on stage for instilling confidence in her. "I must admit that it is a bit overwhelming to meet Mr Bachchan. But I did not feel fidgety or nervous because my two mentors Naseeruddin Shah and Makarand Deshpande taught me to never be afraid. I have lot of confidence in myself and my work," Kumra told PTI in an interview.
The actress, however, says it was easy to work with Bachchan from the day one and the megastar took time to discuss how they should approach their roles. "Anurag (Kashyap) had told him that I would play Taruni but there was no ice-breaker. When the shooting started, my first scene was with Mr Bachchan. I spent whole night working on it. The next day, he sat me down and asked about my understanding of the role. He also came up with a beautiful backstory for my part. He is lovely to work with," she said.
Kumra feels her character in the show is very strong. "Taruni is a lot like her father. She is stubborn. She identifies a lot with him and she is the only one who can stand up to him. It's a very strong and intense role."
The Sony TV show, which also stars Sarika, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kay Kay Menon, Tigmanshu Dhulia among others, is directed by Ribhu Dasgupta while Kashyap is the creative director and Shoojit Sircar, the creative consultant.
Kumra, who has earlier worked in films like 'My Blueberry Night' and Deshpande's 'Sona Spa', hopes good work comes her way after the show, which ends after 20 episodes.
