Wembley actress Neerja Naik is due to take on a challenging role as drug-smuggler Pari in upcoming film Hackney's Finest.
GetWestLondon chatted to her about the dark comedy, and what it means to her to be a Londoner.
Hackney's Finest follows a group of hapless drug dealers in Hackney as they come against corrupt police officers and make their way through a terrible 24 hours. Despite the dark content it is an entertaining, comic film.
Naik said: “I play a character who's quite a reluctant drug smuggler, of Afghan descent. She's quite strong and independent. Someone recently described her as remote, which I thought was really interesting.
“On the outside she's a biker chick, wielding a gun, and quite calm and collected, but internally there's a conflict. She's got quite strong morals. She was really interesting to play.
“The film is a comedy but all the characters have conflicts which ground them in reality.”
A Cambridge graduate, Naik has also starred in Life Goes On (2009) having given up a career in banking to go to drama school. The film presents a challenging role, as she speaks Pashto (a language spoken in Afghanistan), rides a motorbike and wields a gun!
“There were a few firsts for me in the film! I didn't have to ride the motorbike, but I did have to learn to get on and off one convincingly. I had to handle a firearm, which was a bit 'oh my gosh'... Definitely a new thing for me.
“I had to learn Pashto. I didn't speak any of it, we had an accent coach to help... We had to learn some of the script in Pashto, and film it in English and Pashto, then the director would choose which version he liked.
“I get to experience a lot of things I normally wouldn't have.”
Asked about her London roots, and whether it made the experience more special because she was born and raised in Wembley, as the film is so entrenched in London's culture, she said: “It brings together subcultures: Welsh, Jamaican, east-end, Russian and Eastern-European. It's an action movie with different cultures, which is what London is.
“I won't give anything away, but at the end you see the landscape of London, and you think 'oh that's where I live!”
Neerja will also be starring in Sold, alongside Gillian Anderson, later this year. Sold tells the story of a 13-year-old Nepalese girl who is trafficked across the Indian border and sold to a brothel.
Hackney’s Finest is in cinemas April 3, and available on DVD & On Demand April 13. To find out more visit their official website.
