Kriti Sanon: Would love to play a more layered character with a grey shade

In a candid conversation with Etimes, Kriti Sanon expresses she would like to play an angsty role, and how despite her successful reign at the box office, her parents are still worried about her career!
In an industry which still gives the credit of a film’s success to the lead male protagonist, Kriti has claimed her throne among few notable female leads who won the hearts of the Indian audience with an effortless portrayal of her characters.What few of her Bollywood fans know is that she made her debut in the professional acting arena in a psychological thriller, ‘Nenokkadine’, opposite Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu. Critics noticed and applauded for her performance as television journalist Sameera.
With her trademark innocent smile, Kriti says her professional journey has made her a lot more confident – both as an actor and as a person. “I had no idea about things when I started. I often say I learn on the job. Today, I am more confident, and a lot more part of the industry. I have grown as an actor and as a person with my experiences. I know a lot of people in the industry now, and consequently, have become little more comfortable in the ‘filmy’ parties,” she claims.
The diva who made her debut in Hindi cinema with 'Heropanti' opposite Tiger Shroff has come a long way in Bollywood and become a sensation on the social media with envious 19 million followers on Instagram. Since her debut in Bollywood in 2014, she has worked with almost all new heartthrobs such as Sushant Singh Rajput, Ayyuushman Khurana, Varun Dhawan, and Rajkumar Rao. It’s pleasing to see that her initial successes have failed to corrupt her yet.

“There have been a variety of roles I have been able to do as an actor which also keeps you satisfied as an actor. But at the same time, there is a lot of hunger. There is still a lot of craving to perform a lot more. To work with a lot of people I haven’t; especially, several directors. At this point of time I would like to do slightly angsty role; a character that has grey shades, which is more complicated, and layered,” she says.
Her recent flick, ‘Luka Chuppi’ has delivered her to the new league as it inches towards the Rs. 100 crore earnings at the box office. And even if it falls just short of the mark, the actor has already four stellar films lined up this year. Critics, however, have maintained that it was ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ which scripted the beginning of this era for Kriti. “I think it (BKB) turned things around for me. It broke a lot of perceptions. I am aware several people thought I would not do justice to the role. However, Ashwini was confident about why she had chosen me for the role, and I thank her for that. I always thank BR Films and Junglee Films because I feel all of us need that person in life who believes in you, is ready and willing to do something different with you,” she swiftly breaks in to a strings of sentences in Hindi, “Jab tak aap try nahi karoge aapko kaise pata work karega ki nahi.”

“I am glad they saw Bitti in me. I am also glad that they saw the actor in me from the previous films I have done and not the characters I played. My characters in the films before ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ were glamorous. I also thought I would love to essay a character without make-up and in a pullover, for once not be bothered about what I am wearing,” she says.
It was a risk which the producers and director had taken. One that paid off. “People did not expect, and several people told me that it was for the first time they had seen me this alive in a trailer,” she adds.
In Bollywood, it’s a constant game of ‘update or perish’. Like several actors, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ presented Kriti with a new challenge – The trap of getting typecast. “I started getting only small time images, 90% of the offers came like that which was amazing at one hand as I realised that at least people acknowledged that I could do such roles. ‘Luka Chuppi’ was to take it a step further where you are playing a small town girl but not the same character. For me Rashmi was slightly trickier only in terms of the fact that she is a mix between a small town and a modern person,” she says. It was a realistic and pragmatic choice by the actor.
But she denies that she has become ‘choosy’; especially since in the industry, the connotation of that word differs entirely with the results at the box office. “I usually go instinctively with what I am doing. The reasons might be different for different films. Sometimes it’s the character, and sometimes it’s people who are making the film. With certain directors I never even ask for the script!” she says.
“Fortunately, in Bollywood, as the films work, the bank of opportunities widens. So initially you are choosing from a little lesser number of scripts, but you are choosing whatever best you can. Then the horizon expands, and you have a little more choice. I pray my options to choose keeps increasing so I can do the kind of films I really crave to do. Maybe they are not there right now on my table, but I hope with every film that bank increases,” she finishes the sentence with folded hands and a silent prayer to the higher power, briefly forgetting that she is being interviewed. It was a spontaneous reaction, which made her personality more believable.

Kriti has also received compliments for her unmissable chemistry with all her co-actors. “I always believe chemistry comes from reacting to each other and chemistry also comes from being in sync with each other when you are doing a scene. You have to be giving as an actor; you have to be wanting to make the scene better and not your performance better,” she notes.
“Kartik also has that. I feel he is a great actor and I feel he always wants to make every scene better. He always thinks of the larger picture. We were not friends before the film hit the floor. We had met in parties, but we were not buddies. But when we started filming, I realised we had similar suggestions. Maybe because we both come from middle-class families with working parents – and the fact that we both are engineers,” she says while adding in the same breath that a good script lays the ground for building great chemistry between the actors.
For a middle-class family, the battle of acting versus a ‘well-settled’ career in engineering results in endless nights of stress. Quizzed if her parents have finally accepted her choice, Kriti breaks into a short moment of a hearty laugh. “My GMAT score is not valid anymore. Parents are always worried. Right now when you were talking, I thought it has changed, but then I realised: No, it hasn’t. My parents are still as worried. Especially, my mother. I feel moms never stop worrying about their kids. It’s in their DNA,” she says as takes a moment to compose herself.
“My mom is always concerned about how I am doing; if I have eaten or not during the shoot. When I was shooting for ‘Panipat’, I was running a high fever. My mother without telling me just drove all the way to the set in Jaipur,” she adds.

Kriti acknowledges that this fear is justified. “Acting is a very insecure profession. Since I do not have backing from some from the industry, my parents are a little worried. They always remind me to be more focused. They keep saying ‘okay this is done but what’s next?’ I have to remind them often that acting is not a 9 to 5 job. It's ok for a month if I am not doing anything. I would instead do what I yearn to do. But I understand their anxiety. They know I am also someone who can get laidback in middle of things and therefore, they would suddenly give me that much-needed nudge. Sometimes it helps me, and most of the times I tell them I will handle please relax,” she quips as we call it a day.