Netflix’s Hindi adaptation of The Elite – Class – has been a resounding success. Since its release earlier this month, the show has been trending on the platform and receiving praise from fans as well. The show, which focusses on the lives and scandals of Delhi’s elite, high-society school kids, marks the screen debut of Delhi actress Naina Bhan. In an exclusive chat with DNA, Naina talks about playing Koel Kalra in the show, how she landed the role, and the challenges of shooting intimate scenes.
Talking about the reaction to the show and the praise her character is getting, Naina says, “It’s one of the most nerve-wracking things to put yourself out there and it’s a huge responsibility to make the people you care for proud. Everyone is just showering so much love that it is unreal. I am pinching myself.”
Naina says she always felt drawn to the character having been a ‘south Delhi girl’ herself, which is what led to her auditioning for it in rather unusual circumstances during the first lockdown. “One day randomly, this audition came into my agency and I really wanted to test for it. I am a south Delhi girl and if I can’t play this, I won’t be able to do anything. It was in the middle of the first lockdown that I gave my audition on my birthday in my bathroom, the only silent place in my house. Months later, I heard from them that I had cracked it and I had to travel to Mumbai. For a second, I thought it was all a prank because it seemed too good to be true,” she recalls.
Class shows the scandalous and twisted lives of the elite teenagers of Delhi, laden with drugs, sex, and crime. Many detractors have argued that the show is too far-fetched but Naina disagrees. “It’s quite close to reality. I come from a very normal middle-class upbringing but I knew all these people in my six degress of separation. I wasn’t them but I have seen them. Maybe that is why I was able to get inside Koel’s head so quickly,” she says.
In Class, Naina’s character Koel Kalra is shown to be romantically involved with two boys, and the show features some intimacy between all three characters. The actress says that it did not deter her because the intimacy was integral to the show. She explains, “Maybe that’s my naivete but I really hate when people put you in boxes. Especially with this show and the kind of character Koel is, intimacy was the last thing on my mind. It’s a dream role because it picks up all the weird parts of people’s lives and psyche. That was the exciting opportunity. I wouldn’t do intimacy just for the sake of it. But here, it is integral to the character’s arc. There is an intentionality to it. It doesn’t make sense to do it just for empty thrills.”
However, Naina admits was nervous before filming the scenes but having an intimacy coordinator on set helped her. “When it comes to intimacy, any normal person would feel nervous about it. But there was an intimacy director on set, which made it easier. Then, it was a Netflix show and I had faith in Ashim Ahluwalia (the director) so I had faith in them,” she recalls. She adds that the show’s biggest triumph is that more people are talking about the story than about the intimacy or few scenes. “I really appreciated the fact that there is a very neutral gaze on the intimate scenes. I don’t think they were trying to objectify either character. That was the apprehension but the response has been positive so far,” she says.
