Latest news with #ElnaazNorouzi
Khaleej Times
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
'Not just a pretty face': Elnaaz Norouzi on singing, global identity, and starring in 'Masti 4'
Elnaaz Norouzi is not the kind to stay in one lane. The Iranian-German model-turned-actor-turned-singer has charmed Indian audiences on-screen, surprised them with her vocals, and now, she's set her sights on global resonance. Fresh off the release of her independent single My Stupid Heart, Norouzi speaks candidly about chasing passions, filming Masti 4, and why she'll always be an actor first—even with a mic in hand. The actress marked the start of her music journey with La La Love in 2022, but her latest release, My Stupid Heart, written by legendary songwriter Billy Steinberg (whose credits include Madonna's Like a Virgin), truly felt like a personal moment. 'When Billy handed me the lyrics in LA, I really resonated with it. I've been that girl—falling in love with the wrong people, again and again,' she says in a chat with City Times. 'So when I read the lyrics, I was like 'this is the song I got to do and I really sound good in it.'' Music and acting My Stupid Heart dropped via her personal YouTube channel and has, so far, amassed over 364k views. 'I love doing things that I'm good at and it makes me proud. It just shows that I am capable of doing multiple things and not just one thing,' she says. 'Modelling led to acting, acting to dance, and then I discovered I have a voice that I can use to sing. So I started taking vocal training and working on my voice.' She's proud of the journey—and the hustle. She adds: "I want to show the world that I'm capable and that I'm not just a pretty face." Recording wasn't without its anxiety. Elnaaz is almost always very stressed in her headspace before a recording session. "It's like how it was at the beginning of my acting career," she says. "For warm-ups now, I sit with my vocal coach and we go through the song. Then, I walk into the studio with her and tell her—hold my hand, let's do this. That's the only way." The payoff? A wave of genuine fan appreciation. 'People kept saying, 'Wait, is that really your voice?' That's what matters most. Not the numbers. Not the hype. Just the fact that they heard something real.' She's not stopping anytime soon either. She says, 'I have an EP, almost six songs ready! I just need to find time. Right now I'm busy filming Masti 4, but more music is coming.' Norouzi's latest screen turn in The Traitors on Amazon Prime showed a whole new side of her: sharp, strategic, and raw. 'It wasn't fun—it was tough,' she says. 'Sleepless nights, nonstop brain work, no bonding on set. You're alone, always strategising.' But the payoff was worth it. 'It gave me the chance to show people I'm smart. That I speak Hindi. That I'm not just pretty. It was one of the hardest thing I've done—and one of the best decisions of my life.' On the flip side, Masti 4 has been all laughter and joy. 'I've always wanted to do comedy. I had a taste of it with Hello Charlie, but this—this is different. I feel like here I am actually getting the opportunity to show my comic timing,' she says. 'And opposite Riteish Deshmukh? He's a dream to work with. I adore him and his family. I'm genuinely so happy on this set.' According to reports, the film is expected to release in India later this year. There's more in the pipeline, including a 'really, really big song' for a major Bollywood film, dropping later this summer. 'I just hope people groove to it the way I did—because my knee didn't survive those dance moves!' A global artist in a local industry Navigating the Indian entertainment space hasn't been easy for the multilingual artist. 'You're trying to find your way but are mostly being put in one place. I'm Iranian, German, working in India, singing, acting, dancing—it's a lot to explain,' she says. 'But that's who I am. I'm versatile, and I'm learning to use that as a strength.' She recalls the strange feeling of acting in her native Farsi for the first time—on Apple TV+'s Tehran. 'I've always acted in Hindi, my fifth language," she says. "Suddenly doing a role in Farsi felt like a shocker.' But the toughest gig? 'A Telugu film (Devil). I didn't know the language at all. Way harder than Punjabi, which I at least tried to learn.' With all that she juggles, one might wonder—would she ever give up acting for music? 'No,' she answers instantly. 'Acting is my life. I am starting to enjoy music more now than ever before, but without acting, there would be no Elnaaz.'
News18
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Anshula Kapoor Reveals The Traitors Crew Had To Often Intervene To Break Up Fights
Last Updated: Amazon Prime Video's The Traitors captivated viewers with its thrilling format. Contestants Anshula Kapoor and Elnaaz Norouzi revealed intense behind-the-scenes arguments. The recently concluded Amazon Prime Video's The Traitors grabbed viewers' attention for its thrilling format and unpredictable gameplay. However, behind the suspenseful entertainment lies an intense reality that viewers don't often get to see. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, contestants Anshula Kapoor and Elnaaz Norouzi opened up about the pressure-cooker atmosphere on set and how frequent arguments among contestants often pushed the production team to step in. Talking about what really went on behind the scenes, Anshula Kapoor revealed that the crew had to regularly break the fourth wall to manage heated altercations. 'Every time there were fights, the production team would always intervene and break the fourth wall," Anshula said. 'They would constantly come out to tell us to stop fighting and that none of it is gonna make it on air. You just see an hour edited version of the 17–18 hours we spent shooting there. Everybody there was in a high-pressure situation. We all have had emotional outbursts at some point or the other." Co-contestant Elnaaz Norouzi echoed similar sentiments, talking about her disappointment with the level of conflict on the show. 'I did the show just because I knew you had to use strategy to win. You had to use your brain and not just be there and abuse each other. So when I saw people fighting, I would get all worked up. I'd say this is not what I came for," she said. Uorfi Javed was announced the winner of The Traitors along with Nikita Luther in the July 3 finale episode. The top six finalists were Harsh Gujral, Jasmin Bhasin, Nikita, Purav Jha, Sudhanshu Pandey and Uorfi. While Harsh and Purav were traitors, the rest four were innocents. The Traitors premiered on Prime Video on June 12. it started with 20 contestants, including Karan Kundrra, Jasmin Bhasin, Raftaar, Raj Kundra, Uorfi, Jannat Zubair, Purav Jha, Harsh Gujral, Elvish Yadav, Mukesh Chhabra, Maheep Kapoor, Rebel Kid (Apoorva Mukhija), Sudhanshu Pandey, Sufi Motiwala, Sahil Salathia, Ashish Vidyarthi, Anshula Kapoor, and Elnaaz Norouzi. The show was hosted by Karan Johar. First Published:
News18
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Who Is Nikita Luther, India's First Female Poker Star And The Traitors Winner
Last Updated: Nikita Luther was sent home in the first episode by another contestant, Elnaaz Norouzi, but with her mindful playing, the wildcard entrant emerged as the winner with Uorfi Javed. Karan Johar's reality show The Traitors crowned its first-season winners—Uorfi Javed and Nikita Luther. While Uorfi is a well-known social media personality and fashion influencer, many viewers are curious about the show's other champion. Unlike her co-winner, Nikita Luther isn't from the entertainment world. She is, in fact, India's top female poker player. A Delhi native, Nikita studied finance and marketing at the University of Delhi. Her foray into poker began casually on Zynga, a popular online poker app. What started as a fun pastime soon became a serious pursuit. In 2015, during a friend's birthday party, she played poker for real money for the first time—a moment that marked a turning point in her journey into professional poker. Nikita appeared on the first season of Game of Gold, a poker reality show. In February 2017, she won the Macau Poker Cup team event with Raghav Bansal. Her victory made her India's first woman to win a global poker tournament. But the biggest moment of her career came in June 2018. She, along with her teammate Giuseppe Pantaleo, won a gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. She is currently mentoring at the 'Super Bowl' of poker championships in India and is the COO of the Poker Sports League. By taking part in many national and international events over the years, she has built an impressive record. Till now, she has won over $440,000 (over Rs 3 crore) in live tournament earnings. Coming to The Traitors, professional poker player Nikita Luther was sent home in the first episode by another contestant, Elnaaz Norouzi, before the game officially began. But she made a surprising entry in the game in the third episode as a wildcard. With her mindful playing, she emerged as the winner of the show with Uorfi Javed. The two walked away with a whopping prize money of Rs 70.05 lakh. The Prime Video show ended with an intense finale where the duo eliminated Harsh Gujral to clinch the title. The comedian came third, while Sudhanshu Pandey and Purav Jha were out of the game, bagging fourth and fifth positions, respectively. The Traitors started with an impressive ensemble cast of 20 celebrity contestants and influencers. Besides the above-mentioned contestants, the show also featured Karan Kundrra, Raj Kundra, Raftaar, Anshula Kapoor, Maheep Kapoor, Jasmin Bhasin, Ashish Vidyarthi, Elnaaz Norouzi, Janvee Gaurr, Lakshmi Manchu, Mukesh Chhabra, Sahil Salathia, Sufi Motiwala, Jannat Zubair and Apoorva Mukhija. First Published:
India Today
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
The Traitors: Actor Elnaaz Norouzi prepared for six months, read psychology books
Ahead of 'The Traitors' finale on July 3, actor Elnaaz Norouzi said she prepared to become a traitor for six months. In a YouTube video on her channel, the now-eliminated contestant shared that she read several books on human psychology and watched international versions of the show to hone her her elimination, Norouzi managed to fool her co-contestants by putting up an innocent act from day one. "This just didn't come from nowhere. Everything you do, you have to be well-read and well-prepared," she said in her YouTube actor then listed the books she specifically read for 'The Traitors' and said, "One of them is 'How to Make Your Audience Fall in Love with You', which is about acting. And then there's 'The Laws of Human Nature', which was very important for me, and it gave me so many insights."advertisementShe added, "It was so important for me to understand the other players. And then there's 'How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, Mastermind', which is what a lot of you have been calling me. There were two more that I listened to. One of them is 'Telling Lies', and 'How to Read People Like a Book'." Watch the video here: The 'Sacred Games' fame then emphasised the importance of preparation and hard work, saying that all of this made her game very strong."It's a little scary to learn these things, because, in real life, I don't like to cheat anybody around me But all of this really helped make my game strong. Everything needs preparation, everything needs a lot of hard work," she 28-year-old also said that it wasn't about winning but doing well on the show for her. "If you get into something without knowing what you're doing, without having studied it properly, you might just do well to a certain extent. It wasn't about winning, it was about doing well on the show," Norouzi a traitor, the actor was instructed to carry out 'murders' while remaining undetected by her fellow contestants. Her strategy involved convincing others that she was unintelligent and struggling with Hindi, leveraging her status as a foreigner to enhance her Norouzi rose to fame in India by playing a supporting role in Netflix's 'Sacred Games'. She also appeared in Gerard Butler's 'Kandahar', and in the Apple TV+ show 'Tehran'.- EndsMust Watch
Indian Express
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘Telling lies, How to Read People Like a Book': Elnaaz Norouzi reveals it took six months of prep to become ‘mastermind' of The Traitors
Actor Elnaaz Norouzi, whose performance as a 'traitor' on the Prime Video reality show The Traitors was praised by audiences, said that what she was able to do on the show wasn't a fluke. In a video shared on her YouTube channel, Elnaaz revealed her 'hack' to performing well on the show, and said that she spent six month preparing for it. During this time, she read books on human psychology and watched hours upon hours of the show's international versions. Elnaaz was chosen as a 'traitor' at the very start of the show, and was instructed to carry out 'murders' while avoiding being identified by her co-contestants. The show's format revolves around a group of 'innocents', who must strategise among themselves to identify who among them is a 'traitor', while also avoid being 'murdered' by them. Elnaaz successfully managed to fool her co-contestants into believing that she is unintelligent, and can barely understand Hindi, being a foreigner. When she was revealed to be a 'traitor', everybody on the show was shocked at how well they'd been deceived. Also read – Anshula Kapoor reveals The Traitors left her with PTSD: 'No amount of money should be okay to give you mental health triggers' In her video, she said, 'This just doesn't come from nowhere. Everything you do, you have to be well-read and well-prepared. Let me tell you about the books I specifically read for The Traitors. One of them is 'How to Make Your Audience Fall in Love with You', which is about acting. And then there's 'The Laws of Human Nature', which was very important for me, and it gave me so many insights. It was so important for me to understand the other players. And then there's 'How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, Mastermind', which is what a lot of you have been calling me. There were two more that I listened to, one of them is 'Telling Lies', and 'How to Read People Like a Book'.' Elnaaz continued, 'It's a little scary to learn these things, because, in real life, I don't like to cheat anybody around me… But all of this really helped make my game strong. Everything needs preparation, everything needs a lot of hard work. If you get into something without knowing what you're doing, without having studied it properly, you might just do well to a certain extent… It wasn't about winning, it was about doing well on the show.' The Traitors will air its finale this week. Elnaaz is working on a Hollywood project, Hotel Tehran, starring Zachary Levi and Liam Neeson. She is best known in India for playing a supporting role in Netflix's Sacred Games. She also appeared in Gerard Butler's Kandahar, and in the Apple TV+ show Tehran.
