Now, for the first time, the actress will don the hat of a director, with Firaaq. A sensitive film on the 2002 Gujarat riots, it stars Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Deepti Naval, Raghuvir Yadav, Shahana Goswami, Sanjay Suri and Tisca Chopra.

Nithya Ramani caught up with Nandita, and asked her about her take on violence and terrorism.

What is Firaaq about?

Like the tag-line of the film says, it's 'a work of fiction based on 1,000 true stories.' Firaaq is about the people's response after the Gujarat riots. It's about the fear living inside each person, and their different emotions.

Was direction always on the cards?

Yes. Even as an actor, I always thought of narrating a story. But I wasn't sure if Firaaq would be my first film. Firaaq was woven through my own experiences, working with people affected by violence, reading the newspapers, getting affected by the growing violence myself...

Listen to: Dard-E-Disco
Also See: 'Firaaq was never meant to be a provocative film'

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