‘It’s Not Just Because Of Dhurandhar…’

It’s taken her a while to get here, “If I had the right background, I would have started off in a different way. If I had not started with a sister role in Jab We Met or if I had started with a lead role, I would have had a different career graph.                                                                                                 “What took you so long to get here?

Sometimes the fact that you get an opportunity to work, you know…

It’s not like you’re giving competitive exams like in other professions, that if you are deserving, you will get your seat.

It doesn’t work like that in the film industry.

You have to hustle, you have to have that kind of networking or the reach or the surname or the background.

Sometimes, even the best actors don’t get the right opportunities.So I don’t think this industry works on meritocracy as against other professions.

Having said that, it’s been a journey with the good and the bad.

I was very, very lucky to be a part of whatever superhit projects that I did.Go ahead.

I’m a bit choosy.

But I also feel that if I had the right background, I would have started off in a different way.

For example, if I had not started with a sister role in Jab We Met or if I had started with a lead role, I would have a different career graph.

I navigated my career figuring everything out on my own, holding on to a twig and reaching out for a branch.

I had no idea how and where to go, what was the right strategy.

I am not a hustler.

I do not know how to network.

All I know is that I have talent.

I have a terrific upbringing. I come from an academic background. I am a literature student myself.

I’m a thinking actor.

What keeps me afloat is the belief that it’s my responsibility towards my talent to keep myself getting better.Are you more confident about the future?

I don’t know how far I’ll go, but I know that I’m going to get better with every yearI’m here for a long haul.

I’ve been really grateful that for 90 percent of the time, I’ve been part of super, super successful projects.

Even though I had a small part in Jab We Met, it became one of the most iconic rom-coms of its time.

Dance India Dance was one of the most popular dance reality shows, a first in India.

The Bournvita Quiz Contest was in the Limca Book of Records.

Bhabiji Ghar Pe Hain is a very loved sitcom on television.

Dhurandhar, of course, is setting new records.

I have seen fame, but I would like to say that whatever I’m getting at the moment is a sum total of what I have done earlier.  How does it feel to be mobbed?

It’s not just because of Dhurandhar that people are suddenly recognising me.

It is also the love that I have got from my television show Bhabiji Ghar Pe Hain. People have loved me in it.

I know it is very fashionable to put television down, but I’d like to say the show was very well written, very well done.

People are loving me because they’ve really, really loved me in my previous work.

They are giving me double love back because of this show.

Akshaye Khanna, who plays your husband in Dhurandhar, is walking away with all the adulation.

I knew Akshaye is a scene-stealer.

He is so nuanced; his work is so deep, there’s so much of layering in his work.

He’s such a clever actor!

He knows exactly how much expression to give to the camera.

He’s always been very good, but I’m so glad that he’s showing his magic to the world again, and the world is giving all the love back to him. He deserves it.

Having said that, I’d like to say that Ranveer Singh did a fantastic job.

He’s a superstar but he just holds himself back. The kind of restraint he has shown in his acting is the work of a very, very capable actor.

He’s just standing behind with his head down and just moving his eyes.