Kriti still passing through ‘outsider’ phase in Bollywood

Actor Kriti Sanon is ready with her third Bollywood film — the soon-to-release Raabta (June 9), alongside Sushant Singh Rajput. She tasted success with her debut film, Heropanti (2014), and went on to star alongside Bollywood biggies Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in Dilwale (2015). But Kriti shares that she’s still not at ease with industry insiders. “I am not so many films old to be known as an insider. I do feel out of place. I don’t know a lot of people and don’t attend too many parties, so I still feel like an outsider. But my house in Mumbai feels like home,” says Kriti, who moved base from Delhi to pursue a career in films. “My sister, Nupur, has moved in with me and we have a pet dog. My parents also keep visiting me, so I’m not home sick anymore,” adds the 26-year-old. Was it tough being a newcomer with no connections in Bollywood? “I’ve been fortunate. It’s not easy to meet big directors. Nepotism does exist, it always did. Star kids do get way more opportunities, but there are also people like Anushka (Sharma), Deepika (Padukone) and Sushant who’ve managed to make it. So, as long as the opportunities are balanced, it’s fine.” While Kriti is nervous about being third time lucky in Bollywood, she says that it was a “special experience” to play two characters in Raabta, with reincarnation as the backdrop. “I liked the script from day one, and has stayed with me for over two years now. It’s tricky to make people believe in both characters in such a short span of time, so it was [a] challenging yet exciting [task]. I had a two-month gap between playing both characters, so that helped me with my thought process,” she adds.