BENGALURU: With the threat of coronavirus looming large in February, actor-anchor-speaker Kubbra Sait found herself returning to Mumbai, even though she was midway through a shoot in Ireland. For the next two weeks upon her return, Sait slept for 12 hours a day, getting all the rest she hadn’t got in the last couple of years. “That was a halt that I really needed. I asked myself a lot of questions about who I am as a person and my responsibilities,” says Sait who shot to fame with the webseries, Sacred Games. 

While that’s one side of the story, she also had concerns about income, rentals and her brother – comedian-actor Danish Sait – and even considered moving back to Bengaluru. But luckily for her, none of those worries lasted too long. With work flowing in, keeping her in a “comfortable” position, and Danish’s creative videos of fictional characters going viral, Sait is, in fact, rejoicing this and more. She has just signed a deal with HarperCollins, and is in the midst of writing her debut book. 

“In April, I reached out to Jacaranda Literary Agency, wanting to be a ghost writer for a book, the subject of which I thought I’d figure out later. They immediately shot down the idea of me being a ghost writer and instead, suggested that I write a book of my own,” she says. Before she knew it, she was sending writing samples – of her childhood, relationship with mum, Danish and her cats – and signing the contract.

“I’m already done with half the book, which is going to be a memoir with snippets from my journey and learnings,” she reveals. The book is likely to be released in the first quarter of 2021. “My wildest dreams are coming true in this lockdown. I didn’t know that someone would make my dream of wanting to be an author real,” says the 37-year-old actor, who also worked on a series, which will be out on OTT, and shot it from home. 

In the middle of the writing process, Sait who sometimes writes 6,000 words and sometimes none at all, finds herself to be a better speaker than writer. “I’ve learnt to think on my feet as an anchor, and I find writing to be so different. I want to enjoy the process. I neither want to be overly-critical nor pressurise myself,” she says, adding that naysayers are aplenty, critiquing every trait and move. 

“I’ve heard so many negative things, like anchors can’t turn actors, or curly-haired people don’t make it in this business, and even that my hairline is too thick. There are always people who tell you, ‘If you change that one little aspect, you will make a killing in the business. But no one ever says take a course and learn the craft,” she says. 

Although 2020 marks 10 years of Sait’s move to Mumbai, she admits that she doesn’t consider it home. “For me, Bombay is an office space. But then, I don’t have one single city that I would call home,” says Sait. Starring in Sacred Games has definitely been the life-altering episode of the decade. “It began a new chapter,” Sait says, hoping that her book will do too.