She made her debut in 2014 with ‘Nenokkadine’, a Telugu film and followed it up with her Bollywood debut in ‘Heropanti’. Kriti Sanon’s career graph has seen a steady growth and after having not a single release in 2017, the actress is geared up four releases this year. In this interview, she talks about her new film ‘Luka Chuppi’, the reason behind ‘Arjun Patiala’ getting delayed, juggling between the vastly different world of a ‘Housefull 4’ and a ‘Panipat’, doing a regional film again and the unfairness of actors being taken seriously when they do only a specific kind of roles.
Would you say the world of ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ and ‘Luka Chuppi’ are similar?
Considering the two films are set in small towns, perhaps there is a bit of similarity. But the characters and the story are completely different. I was way more de-glam and tom-boyish in ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ but Rashmi, the character I play in ‘Luka Chuppi’ is very feminine. She was born in Mathura but studied in Delhi. She is very liberal.
Didn’t you shoot for ‘Arjun Patiala’ before ‘Luka Chuppi’?
Yes, but it will also release in May. It is a very post-heavy film, so it took the team a while to lock the edit. 2018 has actually been my busiest year till date in terms of work. For the first time in my life, I took a charter flight to reach the shoot location because I was so hard-pressed for time. I wrapped up the shoot of ‘Luka Chuppi’ in forty days and then went to shoot for ‘Housefull 4’ in Jaisalmer. After that I started shooting for ‘Panipat’. I shot for four films back-to-back.
Your parents live in Delhi and you live in Mumbai with your sister. Do they keep a tab on your work?
Yes, my parents are just like anybody else’s parents. They are concerned about my sister and myself and are very much aware about everything that I am doing in my life. They live in Delhi but they visit me very often. I was in Jaipur when I suffered from high fever. When my mother got to know about it, she flew down to Jaipur from Delhi. My father recently went to a family doctor in Delhi because my medicines were not working.
How has been the experience of shooting for ‘Panipat’? Though a portion of ‘Raabta’ was set in an unknown era, this will be your first full-fledged period film.
The experience has been very good so far. I had never slapped a person in my life and here I am riding a horse and fighting with a sword in my hand. When a film involves so much physical action, it does take a toll on you. I have received a lot of bruises on my legs and my arms. I think it is sweet pain. It gives you lot of satisfaction when you put in a lot of effort and the end results turn out to be so good. It does get a little hectic because of the environment. There are many characters in the film and we have been shooting for a long period of time.
You started out with ‘Nenokkadine’, a Telugu film and did another film later called ‘Dochay’. Would you like to do a Telugu or a regional film again?
Why not? As an actor, I want to do quality work. If I get a great script I would love to do a regional film again.
You got a lot of appreciation for your performance in ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ but prior to that, you had delivered very good performances in all your films. Do you think actors are taken a little more seriously when they do only a specific kind of roles?
If a film does not do well, nothing matters. Even if you do a great job, you do not get noticed. Yes, I do feel when you have less make-up and are in a de-glam avatar, people tend to notice your performance and take you more seriously as an actor. Otherwise, it takes a while to make them look beyond your appearance. It is not fair but I guess that is how it works. I think you need that one role to prove that you can act and then, people start taking you seriously. For me, that happened with ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’.