Kashmira Pardeshi's Journey From Designer To Actor

Kashmira Pardeshi talks to Seher Campwala about life and living

Born and raised in Pune, Kashmira Pardeshi moved to Mumbai to pursue a bachelors in design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology; she had always aspired to become a designer. She was also keen on acting, which had her doing theatre too. Her creative side inspired her to go into modelling, and she has done some notable campaigns for Tanishq, Idea and many other brands.

One thing led to another, and becoming an actor seemed like a natural progression for her. She made her acting debut with the Telugu film Nartanasala in 2018. Her Bollywood debut in 2019 saw her play Vidya Balan’s daughter in Mission Mangal. The year 2019 was a stand-out as she did two more movies in different languages – Sivappu Manjal Pachai in Tamil and Rampaat in Marathi. While 2020 put a pause on her movie run, there are three scheduled for release in 2021 – Vasantha Mullai and Anbarivu in Tamil, and her Kannada debut, Rider. “When I entered the industry, I found that people had the view that you need contacts, but I’ve learned that working hard along with healthy networking will take you a longer way than just spending energy and time exploiting your contacts or finding new ones,” says the doe-eyed actor.

With supportive parents and friends, she notes, “I am immensely grateful for the love and support I receive, and I always try to reciprocate as much as I can. I don’t think I can ask for more. It’s already overwhelming.” The thing she finds most challenging about her work is that you have to be self-motivated. And the most difficult aspect is being your own boss. “Even on the days I am not working, or I’m not on a shoot, I have to maintain discipline. And self-motivation isn’t as easy as it sounds; it takes quite some discipline and courage,” says Pardeshi.

Her number one health tip is to maintain regular food timings and to drink lots of water. She exercises every morning; on days when there’s a rigorous shoot scheduled, she does 20 minutes of intense cardio. She is a non-vegetarian and absolutely loves the Maharashtrian food her mom cooks. She enjoys reading; Ernest Hemmingway is one of her favourite authors. Her favourite way to de-stress is meditation.

The model-turned-actor says, “I used to think of acting as mimicry or impersonation, but, after joining theatre, I realised it’s more innate, and a very inward process.” For her, love is more important than money because love will definitely attract money, but the love has to be genuine. Her night-time ritual is to put her phone away, read a book for 30 minutes, and soak fenugreek seeds overnight so that she can drink the decoction the next morning on an empty stomach. “Because of the impact of social media nowadays, I think people must learn to be detached a little. We are all living more virtually than in reality; I’d want people to attach to reality more,” she adds. She believes life is too short to tolerate inauthenticity, disrespect, or anyone with bad intentions around you.

Oprah: The Path Made Clear is a book Pardeshi strongly recommends to everyone. “It will teach you to love and accept yourself the way you are and also to be fearless,” she says. She stands by the quote: There is no obstacle that grit and grace cannot overcome.

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