Last Updated:August 27, 2026, 07:02 IST

Nimisha Sajayan also talks about not adhering to the film industry’s beauty standards, being comfortable in her own body and gaining 14 kgs for next film, Babita Singh Reporting.

Nimisha Sajayan is gearing up for the release of Babita Singh Reporting on August 28 on Prime Video.

In an industry that often places a premium on glamour, Nimisha Sajayan’s unafraid to embrace her natural self. She wears the de-glam look with ease. She has earlier stated that she doesn’t wear makeup in her personal life because she is comfortable with how she looks. That’s why when actress-host Annie encouraged her to wear makeup, it earned a fair amount of criticism.

During the press conference of Jigarthanda DoubleX in 2023, Nimisha found staunch support from Karthik Subbaraj.when a reporter questioned his decision to cast her while describing her as ‘not beautiful’. He had immediately challenged the idea that there’s an objective standard of beauty that should determine who gets cast as a heroine.

It’s no secret that Nimisha embraced a deliberately unvarnished look in the critically acclaimed The Great Indian Kitchen that shot her to fame. And now, with her next film titled Babita Singh Reporting, she has once shed the sheen and adopted a more natural, lived-in appearance. The Prime Video original film sees her playing the titular character of a cop in heartland India.

Speaking exclusively to News18, Nimisha says, “I gained almost 14 kgs for the character.” Talking about how she has always been at home in her own skin without worrying about beauty standards, she states, “I’m very comfortable in my own skin and body. I don’t consider myself any lesser than anyone else.” But does she also see filmmakers open to creating non-glamorous female leads?

“It has been nine years for me as an actor and I think I’ve been doing some great work. I’ve started to see the change in terms of the kinds of roles that I’m getting now. I started my career with Malayalam films. Then I went on to do Marathi, Bengali and Hindi films. And I see that change across industries,” says the Dabba Cartel and Oru Kuprasidha Payyan actor.

In Babita Singh Reporting, she plays a docile woman who, after learning to raise her voice, finds herself being called out by her own family. Interestingly, in both this film as well as The Great Indian Kitchen, she starts off as trying to conform to her husband and in-laws’ expectations and then her frustration turns into anger and eventually, outright rebellion.

Nimisha now reveals that she has received brickbats for choosing to play such strong women characters. “It comes with the films that I’ve done and the characters that I’ve played. After The Great Indian Kitchen, I got a lot of backlash. They said, abb isko Dabangg hi banna hai and that she only wants to do this kind of films,” she remarks.

But she has no qualms about it. Learning to say no to characters with a skewed gaze has always been a priority for Nimisha. “I had learnt to say no right from the very beginning. From my second project itself, if I didn’t feel the connect, I would just say no,” she tells us. On a related note, Babita Singh Reporting also stars Barun Sobti and is set for a release on August 28.

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Will Nimisha Sajayan continue playing strong female roles?

Nimisha Sajayan has received backlash for choosing to play strong female characters, with some saying she only wants to do “Dabangg”-type films. Her upcoming film, “Babita Singh Reporting”, features her as a fearless young police officer.

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Titas ChowdhurySenior Correspondent

Titas Chowdhury is a Special Correspondent at News18 Showsha. She writes about cinema, music and gender in cinema. Interviewing actors and filmmakers, writing about latest trends in showbiz and bringi…Read More