Nominations 2013/ Best Actor (Female)

For me, it has to be Nimrat Kaur for The Lunchbox; she was unbelievably real in the film and that was amazing.
— Vidya Balan
(Four time winner of Screen Best Actor – Female)

Fantastic! It’s a complete surprise. I had to work very hard on Maya as she’s not really all nice and not your typical heroine. Sudhir Mishra (the film’s director) had spoken to people from ad agencies and learnt about the girls working in there and how they handled sexual advances by bosses. He discovered how some were told to avoid complaining when harrassed. The ambitious ones stayed, while some though ambitious preferred to leave. There is a very thin line to combat in these cases and that’s how he conceived Maya.
— Chitrangada Singh (Inkaar)

I am not surprised at the nomination. I am excited. Chennai Express was an intense comedy. As an actor it was a different genre for me and unlike Rohit Shetty’s earlier films which had an ensemble cast Chennai Express depended on its two lead actors — Shah Rukh Khan and me. So the film doing well means a lot to me. I am very excited about …Ram-leela as well. The challenge here was living up to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s (the film’s director) expectations. He makes a film on the set in the sense he constantly makes changes when shooting. As an actor this is very challenging because you don’t know what to expect. But he knows how to extract a performance from his actors.
— Deepika Padukone
(Chennai Express, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela)

Surprised at being nominated? Absolutely! I was really not expecting it at all. This year has been special as so much has happened in terms of getting noticed and appreciated for The Lunchbox. Personally I am a world apart from Ila and anything, but depressed or lonely. Interestingly, there were no rehearsals before shooting. Ritesh Batra’s (the film director) brief was to feel the moment and act, so everything in me wanted to get the best emotions of that fairytale like story.
— Nimrat Kaur (The Lunchbox)

I have been getting nominated ever since I made my debut in films and even won several awards. So it was not really a surprise when I was nominated for Shuddh Desi Romance. Also this was the first time that I was playing a character, which was so strong. It was a very refreshing change to play Gayatri, a bold girl who smokes, lives in with her boyfriend and has a commitment phobia. I must say Maneesh Sharma the film’s director is great with characters.
— Parineeti Chopra (Shuddh Desi Romance)

I cannot believe that I have been nominated by the Jury. When you get something you crave for, it seems so surreal. I would give all the credit to Mohit Suri, the film’s director and the writer of Aashiqui 2. If people are praising me it’s because the part of Aarohi written
very well.
— Shraddha Kapoor (Aashiqui 2)

No, I am not surprised at being nominated because my performance was appreciated by the critics and the audience alike. The fact that Vikramaditya Motwane (the director) approached me for a performance oriented role like Pakhi’s boosted my confidence as an actress. There was a huge range of emotions to display — from a love struck girl to a bitter and a sick person. I was not familiar with most of the emotions and her illness as I have always been a picture of good health in real life. So I surrendered myself completely to Vikramaditya’s (the film’s director) vision and it paid off. Pakhi touched a chord with audience instantly.
— Sonakshi Sinha (Lootera)