I was happier when I was poor: Nargis Fakhri

In her next film Banjo, Nargis Fakhri’s character helps lead actor Riteish Deshmukh’s character cut an album and do shows. In real life, she harboured a desire to be a musician herself. However, it wasn’t possible at the time “I didn’t have any instruments to play. I could not pay for them. And you can’t play with pots and pans,” she quips.

Today, she plays a musician in Banjo. Times have changed, but she hasn’t, she affirms. “The only thing that stardom taught me was that I never want to be poor again (laughs). And to keep working and bust my ass. It also taught me that I was happier when I was poor. Isn’t that ironic? But seriously, that’s true!”

She explains, “You have less pressure. And when you struggle in life, you think about everyday things — stuff that you need to struggle for every moment. You don’t really have time to think about stupid things and get depressed. You are working hard to be better, make more money, to educate yourself. I had more goals then, so I guess I should make new goals now. But still, I’m not someone who needs too many things. I only need food and a place to sleep.”

And there’s something she just can’t stop doing. She admits, “Oh yes, I love to travel. But I can travel low-budget. I’m cool. It doesn’t need to be fancy. I can go and take economy flights.” Attagirl!