Sushant and I are very good friends: Rhea

Actor Rhea Chakraborty didn’t have a single release last year, but that doesn’t bother her a tad. She wouldn’t do films “just for the sake of being visible”. The 27year-old, who has been a part of films such as Mere Dad Ki Maruti (2013) and Sonali Cable (2014), talks about how she feels as being tagged as “a bubbly actor” and her bond with her rumoured boyfriend actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Was it a conscious decision to not take up projects in 2019?

Yes, I have been very choosy about my projects. After my first Hindi film, Mere Dad Ki Maruti (2013), where I played a girl from Chandigarh, I was tagged as “a bubbly girl” and was offered similar roles. People told me, ‘you can’t do intense characters’. Some said ‘you look too commercial’, and I would wonder what a ‘commercial look’ is.

A few films came my way last year, which I could have done to be visible, but I don’t want to take up anything for the heck of it. The industry confines us in boxes, but we have to prove that we are women of substance.

2020 looks quite busy, already. What all is in the pipeline?

I’m very excited about my next film Chehre starring Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi. I’m doing another big feature film and a web series.

Besides work, there’s news about your link-up with actor Sushant Singh Rajput, especially after you posted a picture with him on social media. So, what’s your relationship status, now?

We’ve been very good friends for many years. I am fond of working towards our shared goals, like starting our new NGO, and travelling. If there is

It’s tough. When my parents go house hunting, they don’t take me along. People think that actors create havoc, party late and maybe do drugs as well. They are the same people who ask you for a selfie, want to pay you money to come to their wedding and pretend like they know you. But they don’t want to let out their house to you despite charging double the amount.

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