Across professions, it’s now not unparalleled for folks in fields like politics, treatment, law, and engineering to explore performing—typically fuelled by ardour while collected juggling stressful careers. These crossovers spotlight a increasing space where creativity and occupation intersect. Yet, it’s exceptionally rare to search around for a serving police officer step into the sector of cinema while actively in duty, making such a whisk each inserting and challenging.
One such rare instance is IPS officer Simala Prasad, whose whisk seamlessly blends public carrier with storytelling.
When Responsibility Meets Drama
IPS officer Simala Prasad believes that policing and performance can coexist—if managed with readability and stability. For the time being serving as Deputy Inspector Common of Police (Ladies’s Safety) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, she has step by step expanded her creative pursuits.
From authoring a e-book to performing briefly movie roles, she is now obtain to rob on her important performing assignment yet—playing the lead in an upcoming feature where she portrays a sub-inspector.
“Meaningful cinema is the need of the hour. I realised that cinema is an important medium to convey important messages to larger audiences. As an officer, when you do good work, it is limited to your location of posting. Books have a wider scope, but cinema has the power of spreading the message and providing solutions to existing problems,” says the 2011 batch officer who cracked the civil products and companies in her first strive with AIR 51 rotten.
Stepping Into Any other Uniform: DIG Playing an SI!
Having previously looked in tiny roles in Alif (2017) and Nakkash (2019), Simala now takes centre stage in The Narmada Yarn, where she essays the position of sub-inspector Narmada Raikwar.
“I never wanted to be in my own skin (cop) and was very skeptical, but the script compelled me. An SP and a SI can be in the same department but are very different in terms of rank, background, education, exposure, challenges they face in the workplace, social framework and family settings. Getting into that character of Narmada Raikwar exposed me to a different world which, as an officer, I would have never understood professionally,” she says.
From Theatre Roots to Movie Sets
Though now not formally skilled in performing, Simala’s early publicity to theatre within the route of her college days in Bhopal laid the groundwork. Her entry into films came without be aware when director Zaigham Imam approached her family.
“My film’s director Zaigham Imam, who is basically a writer, came to meet my writer-mother (Padam Shri Mehrunnisa Parvez) in Delhi. He offered me a small role of a minority girl in Alif which was about Madarsa and modern education. We shot the film in Varanasi and I had no idea of acting. He again offered me a cameo in Nakkash with actors Inaamulhaq, Sharib Hashmi and Kumud Mishra. They were an eye-opener for me and showed different worlds and the stark realities of society,” she unearths.
Beyond the Badge: Embracing Creativity
For Simala, creativity is now not a diversion—it’s an extension of aim. She advocates for embracing extra than one facets of one’s personality in position of being confined to a single identification.
“You cannot compartmentalise yourself in one single framework. We have very different faces to our personality. If the objective is clear, we should explore different mediums. Earlier this year I came up with a non-fiction book She Goes Missing where I have elaborated my experiences and have analysed them. I did my acting workshops online and to shoot I had to take special permissions,” she added.
Cinema With a Location off
Signing off, she underscores her dedication to meaningful storytelling that aligns with her position as a civil servant.
“As civil servants we are trained to help people and bring a change. Here I play a cop who wants to fight and bring a change and system. It’s very empowering and gives a very strong message. I want to continue doing meaningful roles that give positive messages in the society,” she concluded.
