Commando actor Pooja Chopra: Cancelled flight a blessing, Ayodhya darshan ho gaye

Commando: A One Man Army (2013) actor Pooja Chopra has a special connection with Lucknow. She has shot two films here and her recent visit was a blessing in disguise for her as she got to go darshan to Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya and she calls it “magical”.

“I was scheduled to fly back from Lucknow yesterday (Tuesday) but during the wee hours I got a message that my flight was cancelled due to a storm (in Mumbai). The next one was at eight in the evening so we decided to go ahead for a darshan of Ram Lalla and take a direct flight from there,” says the Aiyaary (2018) actor.

Chopra adds, “It’s true that bulawa aata hai. My flight got cancelled and I had to be there. My nani and mummy always say ki jo hota hai acchey ke liye hota hai and it’s so true! I seeked ashirwad for my film Jeevan Bima Yojna, a comedy with actors Arshad Warsi and Vijay Raz, and my mega OTT series that I will start soon with leading actors and director in June at Kolkata and Mumbai.”

In Lucknow, she has shot for Babloo Bachelor (2021) and Jahaan Char Yaar (2022). “Besides, I keep coming here for events. See how much I like Lucknow and the city also loves me as it keeps calling me at least once or twice a year. Ek gila reh gai, I could not savour Shuklaji ki chaat, Sharmaji Ki Chai and makkhan malai this time but Ayodhya jaana ho gaya.”

The actor is excited about her first show in a long format after doing a cameo in Poison 2 (2020).

“More than being excited I am nervous to work with such big actors in a web show. Long formats are like a playground where you can build a character graph. But, for me, it’s the story and people that are more important than the format. Commando was special as it was my first film as the lead, but I wore my short film Ouch as a medal because I got to work with my favourite director Neeraj Pandey and actor Manoj Bajpayee. We are trying to work on a project again soon,” she says.

Last seen in Jahan Chaar Yaar, she is now looking for its OTT series. “It was a wonderful shoot, and we did the film with a lot of passion and hard work, but every film has its fate! Hope when it comes on OTT it gets its due,” she ends.