Mumbai, Aug 15 (IANS): Bollywood actress Tanishaa Mukerji, who is set to make her theatre debut with "The Verdict" Wednesday, confesses that she has always been scared of performing live on the stage and turned to theatre to get rid of her fear.

"Honestly, I have had a fear of performing in front of the live audience. I have always believed in facing my fears head on. And this is something I wanted to overcome. I don't ever like feeling that I cannot do something," said Tanishaa.

Divya Palat's play "The Verdict" is being premiered here on Independence Day.

"I play a character with shades of grey. She's a woman who will do anything for love," said Tanishaa who is going through mixed feelings.

"I feel nervous and exhilarated all at the same time. It's a high for an actor to be on the stage," she said.

Tanishaa entered Bollywood with horror thriller "Sssshhh...” Post that she featured in notable films like "Tango Charlie", "Sarkar" and "Neal N Nikki", but couldn't take her career to greater heights.

She feels theatre experience would help her in her film endeavors.

"Practice makes one perfect and theatre forces you to practice a lot. You cannot fool audiences. You have to be completely honest on the stage," said the 35-year-old.