Parineeti Chopra is in a very happy space.
She’s in Turkey right now, but she took time off from her busy schedule yesterday to talk to us.
The effervescent actress has received praise from several quarters for her last three endeavors- ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’, ‘Saina’ and ‘The Girl On The Train’.
Currently, she has been doing a lot of heavy weightlifting and we started off by asking her just that.
She said rather chirpily, “It’s good to work out, na?” The conversation drifted to congratulate her on her ‘Kesari’ song having touched 100M views on YouTube.
An elated Parineeti went on to say, “I have waited for this for 5 years.
I was waiting for all the love and accolades that I got at the beginning of my career to come back.
Finally, it has happened.
I am humbled and overwhelmed.
The critics weren’t wrong when they did not like what they saw about me; it was just that I had to make the right choices that would showcase my talent.
2021 has given me my results, I would say.” The conversation soon drifted to sticky situations in her professional life.
Read on…
Have you started taking your character home?It happened to me for the very first time in ‘The Girl On The Train’.
Not that I turned alcoholic like my character in ‘TGOTT’, but still I lived it through by going into a different zone.
Else normally, I forget about the character once the shoot is over and I am in my car.
Were you ever not convinced about a scene but yet did it?Yeah, many scenes in many films in the last five years.
I was very unhappy with the work I was doing.
I had faith in myself but the filmmakers just wouldn’t offer me the parts I was yearning for.
I was signing films half-heartedly.
I was in a constant state of dissatisfaction.
I will be forever indebted to three directors–Amol Gupte (‘Saina’), Dibakar Banerjee ‘(Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’), and Ribhu Dasgupta (‘The Girl On The Train’).
Has it happened with you that you’re not convinced about a scene and asked the director to modify it and he did?Had that happened the films would have turned out to be better (laughs).
There hasn’t been a two-way relationship with the makers and so, there have been many occasions where I knew it was a bad film and went home unhappy.
Have you done a film for money and regretted it?No.
Thankfully, I get paid well and I will never do a film for the wrong reasons.
Now, my message to filmmakers is: Please watch my last three films and offer me the roles I would love to do.
Have you ever realised that you are not happy with a film that you have signed and gone to the producer to return the signing amount?Yes, it happened to me once.
I was on the verge of doing a film but I went and refunded the signing amount because I didn’t believe in it.
I can’t name the producer or the film.
Have you ever been carried away while doing a romantic scene?
No, I have done intimate scenes-kissing and lovemaking.
But in such scenes, ‘cut’ means ‘cut’.
Whenever there’s physicality involved, scenes are pretty technical and clinical.
Have any of your co-actors–male or female–suffered from bad breath?
No.
Everyone looks after his/her hygiene very well.
Was there ever a time when you wanted to do a film and had even spoken to the makers for it, but you weren’t cast?Yes, it happened on two occasions.
On one occasion, I was told that they required a much older woman and I looked too young for it.
On the second occasion, I was told that they’d promised that role to somebody else.
I like it when they’re honest.
There are some directors on my wishlist and they remain so.
Hope I get a chance to work with them one day.
Has another heroine ever got herself cast in your place in a film which you were looking forward to?No, but it would have been a horrible feeling if it had happened.
Have you ever found a scene to be so tough you had to go to the director to get it modified?No, I get very excited with challenging scenes.
In every script, I mark the 4/5 tough scenes and spend extra time discussing and preparing for them with the director.
I am known to be a very hungry student who asks several questions on the sets.
Directors, especially Dibakar, Amol and Ribhu, are very forthcoming if you ask questions.
No director will ever say that do the take without understanding it.
Has it happened with you that you were not happy with a certain outfit for a particular scene and got your way?It will be wrong to say that I had my way.
If one is wearing the wrong outfit or even the wrong colour, it can completely ruin your performance.
A costume in a film is very important to bring out the right effect and build a character.
I credit my output to my costume too.
If I was given a red costume for a depressing scene, it wouldn’t be right.
Or, theoretically speaking, if I was asked to don make-up in ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’ for my character who’s on the run, would that be right?
Have you ever shed tears without using glycerine?Oh yes, in fact, initially I used to do all my tearjerking takes without glycerine.
Only when my tears dry up do I take the help of glycerine.
Has it happened with you that your schedules have gone haywire because the film’s hero kept changing his dates?No, I have worked with the biggest stars in the country–Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn–their schedules are very organised and there has never been any question of a delay.