Meet Monica Chaudhary, who went from having no money for food to starring in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar | Exclusive

Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor’s new release Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar is creating waves at the box office, having earned over Rs 115 crores in just a week. The film has also earned praise from fans. Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar see two entertainment personalities make their acting debut – producer Boney Kapoor and comedian Anubhav Singh Bassi.

But alongside them is another newcomer – Monica Chaudhary, who is being appreciated for her performance as Kinchi, Shraddha’s best friend and Bassi’s wife. In an exclusive chat with DNA, the debutante opens up on her life and acting career so far, dealing with impostor syndrome, and how the low points of her career helped shape who she is today.

Monica Chaudhary’s childhood and early acting career

Monica grew up in Delhi where her father worked as a police officer and that is where the acting bug bit her. “My father is a retired police officer and mom is a homemaker. I was born and brought up in Delhi and my family has now moved back to Rajasthan where we originally are from,” she recalls. Monica began doing theatre in Delhi at the age of 17 but she says she had no plans of being an actor. “I just knew I had to something that was artistic,” she says. But theatre doesn’t pay very well, Monica admits. Hence, she began taking acting workshops in Delhi and later became a theatre teacher in a school there. But on the insistence of casting directors and friends, she moved to Mumbai.

How Monica Chaudhary landed Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar?

Monica recalled how she landed Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar following the success of her TV shows, “Casting director Vicky Sidana met me after the success of my first show Apaharan. He called me for a metting and he praised me and said, ‘I’ll do a film with you’. And I felt he was being nice and polite to me. I didn’t believe it at all. This was in 2019 and I forgot about it. In 2020-end, I got a call for auditions for a ‘big film’. A number of self tests and studio auditions followed, after which I met Luv (Ranjan) sir,” she says.

Had sleepless nights before the film’s release

The actress recalls her nerves right before the film was bout to be released. “I remember before the premiere, I didn’t get any sleep for four nights straight,” she says, adding, “Then, after the premiere, I slept for three years and then after the release, I finally took a long eight-hour sleep. I am better and much happier now. I keep seeing people’s videos from the theatres. And what makes me happiest is whenever my scenes are shared, I hear the audience laughing. It feels so great because it is so validating that my jokes landed.”

Did not tell family for six months

Monica says that she did not believe she was part of the film even after the shoot began and did not tell her family about it for months. “I didn’t believe it on my first day of the shoot as well when I met the cast. Six months into shooting the film, I was sitting by myself and I thought to myself that ‘now they can’treplace you because it would too much to re-shoot’. Even then, it wasn’t any faith in my abilities but more. That is when I told my family. They didn’t know till then,” she says with a laugh.

Recalls days when she had no money for food

Having seen some success with her debut film, Monica says she can look back at her days of struggle in Mumbai proudly. Recalling those tough times, the actress says, “There have been so many low points, where do I even start. Since I had come to Mumbai against my parents’ wishes, I didn’t have the courage to ask them for money. But after a while, I didn’t get any work and I didn’t have any money to eat food. I was shooting and I had no food and I kept wondering if the payment for this comes, I can eat. I had starved myself for two days, eating just bhujia.” But the actress says that experience, and being rejected and replaced from projects, has made her stronger, something that she believes will help her in her career.