Q: This is your first time working with Saif Ali Khan, were you excited for this opportunity?
A: I think we make a very fresh pairing, I have wanted to work with Saif for a while now and was very excited to get the chance in Bullett Raja. Saif is a great actor and is so committed to his roles, I am very happy with how we look together on screen and I would love the opportunity to work with him again.
Q: Your role in the film is of a struggling Bengali actress, what did you think of your characters look in the film?
A: This is the second time I am playing a Bengali girl. But my character in Lootera was drastically different; I was playing a girl from the ’50s, who is a Zamindar’s daughter. In Bullett Raja, I am playing a contemporary Bengali girl. I loved my look for this role; it has a very traditional feel and there was a certain grace to it. Once I was in the costume, everyone was shocked to see how Bengali I looked. I wish the sequence we shot in that costume was a little longer, because I did not want to get out of it.
Q: After having so much success so early in your career with your films, do you feel under pressure with every new release?
A: There’s no pressure actually. I really like what I do and if I think of it as pressure it would really bog me down. I feel I’m in the right place at the right time because there are a lot of films right now where, for me as an actor, there’s something I can give to them. So I truly believe I’m in the right place at the right time.
Q: Do you feel overshadowed by your co-stars? Does less visibility bother you?
A: Never. I do my work to the best of my capacity. I don’t pick a role looking at its length. I take up a film because I would like to see it. People notice me, appreciate my work and dancing skills, so where’s the question of being overshadowed? No one has any complaints.
Q: How would you describe this phase of your life?
A: I’ve come in at the right time and I’m getting films with great roles. It’s fabulous.
Q: No one has ever heard of any stories of you fighting over a role or anything of that sort. Does that mean you’re serious competition here?
A: I’ve never had to fight for a role. Call it my ego or my self-respect, but I won’t pick up the phone and call a producer and fight or ask for a role. That’s not me. I’ve always got the best and my work speaks for itself.
Q: But you’re always the Indian girl. Don’t you want to break that image?
A: People see me like that. I may play an Indian girl, but each role is different. If I’m offered a film where I need to play an urban character, I will. But these roles work for me. I’m not stuck in a rut and neither do I feel the need to break the norm. When a female star plays western roles only, no one asks her these questions. At 25, I can proudly say that I’m successful.
