‘CHARACTERS IN UNIFORM HAVE BEEN TYPECAST FOR FAR TOO LONG’

All set to play a cop in her upcoming movie, Mrunal Thakur opens up on her desire to do it differently

DMy preparation for the role involved spending time with some female cops from our force to understand the world through their lens. MRUNAL THAKUR, Actor

espite the long way the film industry has come in terms of portraying different roles to make them more lifelike, Mrunal Thakur believes that characters in uniform are still stuck in a stereotypical box. That’s what she wants to change with her next project, which has led her on a path of extensive training.

She will be playing the role of a cop in Gumraah, and is going through extensive body training to get it right.

“The first thing I ensured was to avoid any stereotypes. For far too long, characters in uniforms on screen have been typecast a certain way. So this character is closer to reality. And that’s how we are trying to break the usual idea of a female cop,” Thakur tells us.

From undergoing rigorous physical training to learning to handle different types of guns, Thakur says she has tried everything to get the essence of a police officer. “My preparation for the role also involved talking to and spending time with some female cops from our force to understand the world through their lens,” adds the Super 30 (2019) actor.

She continues, “Having confidence in yourself is the absolute primary necessity. I haven’t really done any body training per se for the role; it’s more prep as a character, as opposed to gaining physical strength for the role.”

Opening up about her training, the 29-yearold says, “I’m mostly doing a lot of visual references. I’m watching a lot of content and videos (related to the subject) to educate myself. Being aware is the key for me”.

“More than challenging myself, it is the need to ensure we leave out any tropes while playing such roles on screen that drives me to train this way. It is also to understand the psyche of a person in a position of power and uniform, which is very crucial for this role,” she wraps up.