Kriti Sanon
reveals her BIGGEST challenge for Panipat involved nauvari saree and sword fighting - read EXCLUSIVE interview
“Kriti Sanons stars opposite Arjun Kapoor in Panipat.
Kriti Sanon made her Bollywood debut with Heropanti opposite Tiger Shroff in
2014. She went on to do films like Dilwale, Raabta, Bareilly Ki Barfi and the recent one being Luka Chuppi. The 28- year- old actress won accolades for her character in BKB and in her latest outing. Kriti's character from Luka Chuppi, Rashmi Trivedi, resonated with the young female audience. Surprisingly, her last project with Kartik Aaryan, despite being a small budget film, did exceptionally well at the box office. The romantic- comedy raked in a whopping Rs 92. 73 crore.
BollywoodLife caught up with Kriti, who got candid and spoke about the success of Luka Chuppi, her upcoming projects and much more.
Here are the excerpts from the chat:
People are impressed with your character in Luka Chuppi. How do you feel?
It feels good especially when people remember you by your character name. A similar thing happened to me during Bareilly Ki Barfi, where a lot of people would randomly call, Bitti. And I think people also remember Rashmi ( Luka Chuppi). I loved Rashmi's character from the beginning. She was a good mix of modern thoughts and rooted values, which was very interesting for me to play. With Luka Chuppi doing the numbers it has, it obviously gave me a lot of confidence to do something new and go with my gut feeling.
Did you expect Luka Chuppi to do such business?
No. To be very honest, I knew that Luka Chuppi was a sweet and funny film -- the one which you would like to watch with your families and friends. It was a small budget film and set in a small town. I obvaiously didn't expect the film to do this well. As every week passed, it kept surpassing our expectations. This has made a point that it doesn't matter what the budget of a film is. If you entertain the audience or give them something new, that's about it, that is all they need.
How has Luka Chuppi shaped up your work calendar?
I want to try new things after Arjun Patiala, Panipat and Housefull 4. I have been hearing a lot of stuff. Somehow, I am being offered a lot of thrillers. People are wanting to make thrillers lately. I have heard like 5- 6 scripts of this genre. I love thrillers but this genre has to be very crisp. It needs to be an edge of the seat thriller and I would love to do it. In fact, I am in talks with a few projects, but there's nothing locked for me to talk about. I am surely looking at various genres right now. I want to do something which helps me step out of my zone that has been till now and also do something which is interesting to me as an actor.
How is it working with Arjun Kapoor in Panipat?
It has been amazing. He is a very good actor and a well brought up person. Arjun is very sorted in his head and as a human being, he is very wonderful. And this world is new to us. This is my first proper period film. We are definitely in the right hands. Ashutosh is known for making such beautiful films including Jodhaa Akbar. We have surrendered ourselves to him and are enjoying the magic that he is creating.
Tell us more about your character...
For me, it is very interesting to play a Marathi character that too belonging to a different era. And for the first time, I am playing someone who exists in reality. I don't know Marathi at all. It is a Hindi film but it has Marathi words here and there-- which are colloquial, commonly used. I did learn the language from a tutor named, Ketki. I would like to sit with her during my every scene and learn how to pronounce different words and add more on my own. Also, I did a small portion of a sword fight, which was very interesting and a first for me. I have never done sword fighting. I was very excited and thrilled on that day because I was getting to do action. I was not at all scared but jumping with joy. I obviously did rehearse for it because I had to get it right, the postures - and not genuinely killing anyone on the set. And fighting in a nauvari saree was a task. I could never imagine myself doing that but it was a lot of fun. When you get to know about your injuries after the shoot is done and only when you hit the bed, you know it's done well.
In the first three months of 2019, we saw a lot of actresses including you contributing to the box office numbers. What do you make of this change?
Actresses have been contributing since a while. I think the audience's reaction to such films has also made all the difference. A lot of parts are being written for women now. People are now going and watching films, getting good numbers and making the producers- directors more confident. So it is a great change that has happened in the industry in the past few years. Feel, it is a great time for all of us working right now.