Youve had a long,rough patch. But is that behind you now? Well,bad phases always come in parts. There was a phase when many in the film industry would humiliate me openly. I would be boycotted from the press promotions of films. But as far as work is concerned,you always want more than you get. But I think the really bad phases come in your personal life,such as my sisters accident,or the time that my family stopped supporting and abandoned me when I joined films. Why do you think people in the industry behaved with you like that? I am a bit stubborn,and I have different points of view. People think I am arrogant and headstrong,and I think they find it entertaining too. But things are better now. I am getting congratulatory messages for a recent TV interview. Everyone has been praising you for being honest and articulate in that interview. Yes,I am surprised. I have given so many interviews before and have always spoken like this. Im like this in real life; my friends are now asking me what was so special about this interview? You have always been like this. I dont know. Its the timing I guess. How did you overcome your initial insecurities? I tried everything. I was accepted as an actor,maybe its not the insane success that most starlets desire and it didnt come overnight,but this is the best I have got. I dont believe anybody should set lower goals for themselves. For me,the path that I took worked best. Being myself and doing the kind of roles that were offered to me worked. It wasnt a sudden awakening but an intelligent decision. There was a time when you were in danger of being typecast in playing slightly psychotic,suicidal characters. How did you change that? It happens to the biggest of actors. Sometimes when you are convincing in a film,you are thought of in similar roles: like Gangster led me to Fashion and so on. The good part is that you have an image,and that means you will never be jobless. And the bad part is that you reach a saturation point as an actor. I made a conscious effort to do different roles. Even when I wasnt getting offers from big producers and big actors,I worked with newcomers such as director Anand L Rai (Tanu Weds Manu). I called Madhavan and he was ready to get on board for Tanu.It was like helping each other out. You have a range of films lined up Krrish 3,Rajjo,Queen and Revolver Rani. Are you making a conscious effort to reach out to a wider audience? What makes you choose a script? I am very instinctive in the way I choose films. I am a sorted person,in the sense that I know what I want,but at the same time my decisions are spontaneous and raw. I am not very rational with things. No matter how rational you are,you cant have a formula to success. Sometimes I do a film like Rajjo,simply because its director knows about every film thats been made in the history of cinema it could be a Japanese,a Korean or even a Hollywood film. That passion,I think,has always been my driving force. I give in to these little things. People matter a lot to me. The way the script of Tanu Weds Manu was narrated was so much more important than what the script was. On paper,it was the same romcom,so what was refreshing about it? In films,one has to go with instincts. Tell us a bit about your roles in your upcoming films. In Krrish 3,I play Kaya,human-chameleon hybrid,who has superhuman powers. She is stuck between her animal instincts and human feelings. Rajjo is about a girl who has fallen prey to the flesh business,but there is an artiste in her and she wants to be a dancer. In Queen,I play a naive girl from suburban Delhi who goes for her honeymoon on her own and discovers herself in the process. Its a liberating film about finding oneself. Revolver Rani has one of those Tarantino-esque plots. It is a political satire set in Chambal,and its very woman-oriented. I play a dacoit,politician,villain,hero and heroine,all rolled into one. How do you prepare for your characters? Do you leave it to spontaneity on the sets? Its different with every director. With someone like Rakesh Roshan,I would just follow instructions. He would not even allow one change,one beat here and there and he would know. And with more contemporary filmmakers such as Vikas (Bahl,director of Queen) who is very spontaneous and believes in hand-held cameras and guerrilla style of shooting,we would even write on-location dialogues. Its very important to understand the personality of the director because it eventually reflects in every frame of the film. Its like following the conductor in a philharmonic orchestra. You have to look at him while playing or else you will be out-of-sync and it will be a different song. Does the Rs 100-crore club excite you? Well,it has nothing to do with cinema. Its because of the number of screens that have multiplied in the past five years in the country. The earlier Krrish released 2,000 prints and that has doubled now,but even films which are not as big as Krrish 3 get 3,000 prints easily. If you consider the ratio of screens to the collections,Rs 100 crore is a very ordinary thing. Initially it must have been exciting but its just a phase so it doesnt excite me. As long as my films recover money and strike a chord with the people,its good enough. Do you care about competition? I think I am in a pretty safe place today. I am getting lead roles in all kinds of films. Filmmakers come and say that they only want me to play that role. After years of struggling,I have reached this stage and I want to enjoy it for sometime.
