Actor Nikhil Bhambri essays the character Jahaan Sardesai in the upcoming ZEE5 series, Black Widows. The show, about a trio of women who plan the murder of their respective husbands, is set to stream from December 18. It stars Shamita Shetty, Mona Singh, Swastika Mukherjee, Sharad Kelkar, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Raima Sen, and others. 

Nikhil, who just returned from Kolkata, says he had a torrid time while filming smoking scenes. “My character is a smoker and in real life, I am a non-smoker. It was extremely difficult for me to shoot the smoking scenes. As I had never smoked before, I had to give a lot of retakes to get the shot right. Also, during a lot of shots, I coughed and had to redo it. I had to smoke almost 10-15 cigarettes a day.”

He adds that excessive smoking took a toll on his health. “The next day I used to have bad stomach upset and vomiting. It seemed like the entire energy has been drained out of me, but still I continued with my shoot and completed my scenes. Director Bisra and the entire crew were very supportive and understanding which helped in the shoot going smoothly.”