I’ll get a maximum of three films because of my dad’ Says Ravi Kishan’s daughter on the nepotism debate

Ravi Kishan’s daughter Riva, who makes her debut with the first release of 2020, Sab Kushal Mangal, admits that while she had always planned on entering films, it’s happening sooner than expected and on its own.

“I had wanted to travel and do acting workshops all over the world before making a beginning in showbiz,” the 23-year-old actress informs.

She had flown down from London to visit her family during the holidays when producer Nitin Manmohan, who had seen her pictures, called her father with this film offer.

Riva is cast opposite Priyaank Sharma (Tutu Sharma and Padmini Kolhapure’s son) and Akshaye Khanna in the romcom and admits that she shares an amazing bonding with the former because of their grounded and simple upbringing. “We were pretty much in sync even before we started shooting,” she says, adding that working in it was overwhelming having Akshaye as her hero. “Even in my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have imagined it. He gave me so much confidence and warmth, made everything easy for me,” the actress gushes.

Both Priyaank and she come from film backgrounds and there are certain expectations and pressure on her that comes with being Ravi’s daughter. “Acting is in my blood,” she asserts. Being labelled a product of nepotism, doesn’t bother her. “I’ll get a maximum of three films because of my dad, but who’s going to invest in me after that? It’s my talent that will help me survive,” she reasons.

So, has Ravi seen the film yet? “My father has never watched me act; neither in my theatre days when I worked with Naseer sir (Naseeruddin Shah) nor during my acting workshops. The first time he saw me act was in the film’s trailer,” Riva reveals, adding that getting appreciation from him is a tough job, but she managed it. “He was like ‘this kid from my own house is now a star’,” she smiles. Did he ever visited her sets while she was shooting? “No, he had faith in me or at least that’s what he told me,” she laughs.