I INTEND TO DO FILMS THAT EXCITE ME: KRITI SANON

Unafraid to explore uncharted territories, the actor wants to do at least one out-of-the-box role every year

She is a true-blue outsider, who had a dream start to her Bollywood career with Heropanti (2014). And now, after completing five years in the industry, Kriti Sanon has created a niche for herself. The Delhi girl happily admits that she’s “in the most exciting phase of my career as yet.”

“Honestly, I don’t want to lose that momentum, and wish to keep it going. I’m enjoying whatever is happening (in my career) and with films such as Mimi, Bachchan Pandey, and Dinoo’s next (filmmaker Dinesh Vijan’s yet-untitled comedy starring Rajkummar Rao, Paresh Rawal and Dimple Kapadia), I intend to do films that would excite me. In fact, every year, I want to try and do at least one such character, which is sort of away, or not in my comfort zone,” she says.

Last year, Kriti entered the 100-crore club yet again with Housefull 4. Her first 100-crore film was the Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol starrer Dilwale (2015). “I had never been part of a reincarnation comedy before [Housefull 4], and it also made me do a lot of crazy stuff.

In that way, it was different. It was an out-and-out, in-yourface comedy which I hadn’t done earlier. It was a little out of my comfort zone initially, but then, I started having fun with my part,” says Kriti.

Talking about stepping out of comfort zone, the 29-yearold also had her tryst with a historical drama in 2019 with Panipat. “Essaying my first historical character and being part of a period drama, was like again stepping out of my comfort zone. In fact, in the beginning, I wasn’t very sure about playing an out-andout Maharashtrian. But now, when I look back, I feel there are certain films that you feel really proud to be a part of and I get that feeling with Panipat. The kind of reviews that came for the film weren’t surprising because Ashu sir (filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker) showed things in an amazing manner,” says Kriti, who is currently busy shooting for Mimi with director Laxman Utekar, with whom she is teaming up again after Luka Chuppi (2019). Incidentally, the film completes a year of release today.

Looking at her new line-up, Kriti hopes that her films strike a balance between being “entertaining, commercial yet interesting and unique”. “Mimi revolves around the important topic of surrogacy, which has been put together in a beautiful, entertaining and funny film. But it also has a lot of heart and soul, and gives me a lot of scope to explore. Similarly, Bachchan Pandey is again very different from what I’ve done till now, and so is Dinoo’s film, which is unique. So, I’m very kicked,” she says.