Nagaland model Andrea Kevichusa opens up on her debut film ‘Anek’ and Northeast people facing discrimination

New Delhi: Andrea Kevichusa, who will make her Bollywood debut with ‘Anek’ opposite Ayushmann Khurrana, is overwhelmed. The Anubhav Sinha directorial coming at a time like this, the debutant feels the artistes from Northeast have much to gain from it.

The model-turned-actor from Nagaland will be essaying the role of national level boxer, Aido. She started off her career as a model at 15 and landed works with designers like Sabyasachi.

Andrea, who was the face for Katrina Kaif’s cosmetic line ‘Kay Beauty’, said "Anek" aims to deliver a progressive message to Indians about the need to celebrate inclusivity and diversity. In an exclusive chat with UNI, Andrea spoke about how the people of Northeast face discrimination and are subjected to name-calling.

“Anyone from our home state when we move to city are subjected to ‘name-calling’ because we look different and even if people aren’t facing that there are other types of discrimination they face in other layers I think,” she said.

Asked whether she has faced any such challenges, Andrea said, “But yeah I am fortunate enough not to face things I know people from my region have faced, like physical assault -- there have been many bad cases of that as well, and pandemic also made it worse.

"During the time of corona, people who looked like me had a very difficult time. So I hope that film like ‘Anek’ would change that, and kind of open peoples eyes to seeing the beauty and diversity.”

On whether she feels that ‘Anek’ is a perfect debut for her, the 21-year-old actress said, “I think so. It’s a very unconventional role and I think I would have preferred doing something like this as a debut and I think it has challenged me to grow as a person as well. It has been a great challenge for me.”

On how she got into her character of a boxer, and whether she plays any sports in real life, Andrea said, “No, I don’t play any sports in real life, I only play indoor (chess)."

She also had to polish her Hindi. "In Nagaland, we are not too familiar with Hindi, so I had to work on that and my acting classes and I had bunch of other stuff as well. But the most challenging one was boxing obviously, I had weight training as well,” Andrea said.

She feels grateful for all these things she did to get into the skin of the character. “I am grateful that I had to do all those things, because now I have a great skill set so yeah everything helped me.”

Talking about Ayushmann, her co-actor, Andrea laughed and called him ‘great’. “I mean I had a great time working with him. I don’t think I could have debut with someone else better.

"There is so much to learn from him. He always made sure that I was comfortable on the set. He was very friendly since day one, and we had such a great time doing promos,” she said.

Andrea said she was overwhelmed by the "warm welcome from the industry". "It’s so sweet. Growing up I have never seen someone who looks like me have a mainstream platform in Bollywood, and the fact that I got the opportunity and the fact that people from the industry (big names) are taking the time to do this, I actually have never seen that before, such big warm welcome. So yeah it was really heart warming,” she said.

Describing director Anubhav Sinha, Andrea said he is “intelligent, stern, and very creative”.

Andrea's message to others aspiring to join the industry from the NE, which has so much potential in fields like sports, acting among others, said: “There is a lot of talent back home there, lot of great filmmakers, great actors, a lot of stories to be told from back home.

"I hope to work with them and hopefully collaborate with them someday. And yeah my main message would be if they really want to make it here, times are changing, there is a lot of more inclusivity. With film like ‘Anek’ that would bring up even doors... so they just have to keep trying.”

If she wants any other issue of the Northeast to be highlighted on the big screen, Andrea said: "With things like racism and discrimination it’s not just name calling, there are lot of layers to it.

"So in a film with two-three hours duration it’s not possible to reach every benchmark. However, I hope with this film it opens the door, and maybe we achieve that in future. Of the issues that need to be talked about, I hope, this is the first step towards it.”

On where does she sees herself in the next five years, Andrea laughed and said, “I don’t know.” Ayushmann comments, “Hollywood”.

“I am taking one day at a time. For now I need to take a break. I need to unwind myself. I have to get out of this zone of all this sudden fame, cameras, questions. For the next five years I have no idea,” Andrea added.

Produced by Bhushan Kumar and Anubhav Sinha under Benaras Media Works and T-Series, ‘Anek’ will release in the theatres on May 27. The movie also stars Manoj Pahwa and Kumud Mishra in the pivotal roles. (UNI)