Nancy James – Initially, I had rejected Mata Ki Chowki

A page from the personal diary of Nancy James Strange are the ways of life. Hasty decisions often have long lasting effect and change your life for good. Something similar happened to me, nearly four years back. My character in Sony Entertainment’s Thodi Khushi Thode Gham had just ended and I was busy doing commercials. I was also planning to go back to my hometown, Delhi. Incidentally, we had bought a property in Delhi, but the kitchen area of the property was claimed to be illegal. Because of this claim, our money got stuck with the owner. To top it, the bank stopped our loan and my family was in a big mess. So I decided to leave for Delhi and try looking out for a solution. When I was about to leave Delhi, just the previous day I got a call from Swastik Pictures asking me to come for an audition for an upcoming show. And since I was doing anything that day, I went for the auditions. I remember very clearly that I had reached half way home, after giving the auditions, when I received a call from the production house saying that I was finalized as the lead. And they told me that I had to leave for Kashmir for the promo shoot the next day, which came as a shocker. But since, I had to leave for Delhi, I rejected their offer. However, they called me up again and tried to convince me. But I was adamant that I had to go to Delhi, but they requested me to postpone the Delhi trip and instead meet Siddharth Tewary the next day and I obliged. The next day, Siddharth explained me that the role was very promising. And after a lot of persuasion, I agreed to do the role though I was not very sure about it. I informed my parents about this offer and they were very surprised and happy to hear this. That’s not it, I expected the show to run only for six months, but luckily the show ran for four long years. In fact, as time passed the dispute was settled and we got our money back. And now I have my own property in Mumbai, all thanks to that decision I took four years ago.