People assumed I couldn’t speak Hindi: Adah Sharma

Adah Sharma made her debut with a horror film by Vikram Bhatt, titled ‘1920’. The actress, though she didn’t appear much on-screen after her debut, has marked a lasting impact with her films in the past few years, especially with ‘The Kerala Story’. All thanks to social media and the scripts, which have helped cement her place in the entertainment industry as a powerhouse performer, today, Adah is known for her convincing performances and versatility. However, this was definitely not the scene after her debut.

Adah, in an interview with a leading media house, explained what didn’t work post-debut and how bad she is at clarifying things. Talking about her career, she noted that the only instance of being stereotyped occurred after her debut in ‘1920’.

“People assumed I was a foreigner. I had blue contact lenses, looked very pale and the lack of sunlight in London left us untanned. With my fair complexion and blue eyes, people believed I was not Indian and thought I didn’t know Hindi", she shared.

Adah further mentioned that this misconception persisted for a long time, partly because she wasn’t able to correct it. “I’m terrible at clarifying things and back then, without social media or platforms like ‘Instagram’, there wasn’t an easy way for people to know the truth.”

Adah also acknowledged that male actors have largely dominated this genre until recently but is quick to credit pioneering women who shattered the glass ceiling long ago.