Jubilee Turns 2: Did you know Wamiqa Gabbi was rejected for Niloufer’s role in first audition? Here’s how she bagged the part due to her ‘stupid videos’

Vikramaditya Motwane’s Jubilee is celebrating two years of its release today, April 7, 2025. The period-drama series featured Wamiqa Gabbi in the role of Niloufer, which brought her significant attention and appreciation. Nonetheless, many of you might be surprised to know that the actress was rejected for the role during her first audition. It was only her "stupid videos" on social media that eventually helped her bag the part. 

In an interview with India Today Digital in 2023, Wamiqa Gabbi revealed that her first meeting with director Vikramaditya Motwane took place before the COVID-19 pandemic. She argued that her audition went great, where she was trying to be "graceful" and gave her best. The actress articulated her belief, stating that the director wasn’t looking for her character "to be just graceful" but everything.

"So the first day I met Vikramaditya, the audition went okay. It was just one meeting. Then pandemic happened and he joined Instagram and started following me. He saw all my stupid videos and realised that I have a great sense of humour. He saw Niloufer in me. That’s how I got the call again. I didn’t have to audition again; I was just locked," she had shared.

During the same conversation, Wamiqa was queried if she is as sassy as her character, Niloufer, in the series. Replying, the actress noted that her character is a "free woman" and is perceived to be a "bad woman" in society. She mentioned that her character has a "kotha" in Lucknow, and nobody expects her to be a good girl.

The Jab We Met actress on the other hand, stated that she has a beautiful, supporting and understanding family who never made her feel that they were letting her be free. She argued that she feels free because of them, and it is the "feeling of freeness" that she relates to. 

Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the series featured Aparshakti Khurana, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Aditi Rao Hydari, Nandish Singh Sandhu, Shweta Basu Prasad, Madhu Sachdeva, Sidhant Gupta and more in pivotal roles. Set in the pre-independence era, a 10-episodic series is set against the film industry and is currently streaming on Prime Video. 

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