Adah Sharma’s latest film, ‘Bastar: The Naxal Story,’ is now available for streaming on Zee5 Global. The film delves into the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district. In an exclusive interview with The Brew News, Managing Editor Shaneer N Siddiqui explores Sharma’s transformation from playing sweet girl roles to portraying a tough cop.

The Brew News: Why did you choose Bastar as a story and what research went into preparing for the movie?

Adah Sharma: I worked with Sudipto sir and Vipul sir on the Kerala story and i enjoyed the experience. The whole making of the movie, their attention to detail. So when they called me for this I said yes !
Usually war heroes in our movies work hard , are truthful , relentless and then eventually succeed. I was very attracted to Neeraja character because each time she fails the opposition becomes stronger, till everyone is against her , but she still fights back with the same strength and doesn’t stop.

The Brew News: ⁠You’re doing both kind of roles, a light hearted and wild role in Sunflower 2 and a tough cop in Bastar. So how are you balancing the both the worlds?

Adah Sharma: I’m fortunate directors , makes and studios are trusting me to do both ! It’s nice that in the same year as Bastar where I’m a cop , the same month actually I had Sunflower where I’m a bar dancer who’s doing illegal stuff and avoiding the cops.

⁠The Brew News: How did you prepare to play the role of a cop visually, and how difficult was it to shoot in those locations in Bastar.

Adah Sharma: I put on 15 kgs to look the part. We also did voice modulation and diction classes for two months. Weight training as well so I look broad . We didn’t shoot in actual Bastar because having a whole unit there wouldn’t be safe.

The Brew News: We’ve previously seen you in 2 projects before Bastar this year, on ZEE5 Global. You keep doing interesting projects for the platform, where do you see the collaboration and journey going?

Adah Sharma: I see it going very far because all the stuff we collaborate on gets super successful and we have mutual fondness for each other

The Brew News: What are the upcoming projects where we’ll get to see you, OTT and Bollywood both?

Adah Sharma: You get to see me in different genres. I’m trying to be unrecognizable in each project so you might watch and entire film that I’m in and you will not know it’s me. I might also keep my identity under wraps till a few years after the release of the film.

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The Brew News: You’re quite active on social media, we recently saw you post about mother’s day as well. How do you deal with the negative comments you get about your films online?

Adah Sharma: I get so much free love ,art and so much praise for the work I do. So a few people who choose to not like me or my nails or my films i accept that that is their point of view . We live in a free country, people are entitled to their opinions .