Rhea Chakraborty,She debuted with YRF’s Mere Dad Ki Maruti and went on to do Sonali Cable, Half Girlfriend and Bank Chor. But for VJ-turned-actor Rhea, her upcoming film Jalebi has been the most challenging. She talks to Sangeeta Yadav about it
Tell us about your role in Jalebi?
I play Ayesha who is today’s girl. She is aspiring and wants to be on top of her career. She also wants have a beautiful love life and proposes to the man she likes without thinking what people will say. She is impulsive and takes the leap of faith in everything. But it is not a happy ending for them and troubles arise that brings a new twist to the story. They both fall apart only to bump into each other after seven years in a train. What happens later is something to watch out for.
What was the biggest challenge?
To make a transition from being a free spirited girl to one who is frustrated and lonely. I am very joyful and chirpy person in real life and to play convincingly, I had to disconnect from everyone for two-and-a-half months and stayed in the room. This helped me to introspect and internalise this role deeper. It is high on emotion and to get this right, director Pushpdeep Bhardhwaj, who is also a theatre actor, and Mahesh Bhatt helped me a lot.
How was the experience working with Mahesh Bhatt?
It was amazing. One thing he told me is that I don’t want a brilliant shot but an honest one. That takes away the pressure of what you think of yourself as an actor and person. That is why I find this film very real because I delve deep into the character to play honestly. It is the most challenging film I have done so far and is very close to my heart.
One thing that you have taken back from this film?
Love is not what I thought it was. It is much bigger and real. This film gives a different definition of love in this newage world. And that is why everyone should watch this film. It is not about good people or bad people but two different people. This film is very relevant to today’s time and many people will be able to relate to it. If a girl is too successful and wants to work after marriage, it is still a big problem in marriage. Women are going through the struggle of trying to balance both. And there is a middle way to have a perfect relationship and a successful career. The best example of that is Anushka Sharma. It depends on you as an individual and we do prioritises everything.
Can you share anecdotes from the making of the film?
There is a scene where I am eating a lot of jalebis. The director decided to take different shots of it and I end up eating 44 jalebis within 35 minutes. By the time everything got over, I felt so disguised from it that I didn’t wanted to look at the jalebi for two-three days, forget about eat it again.
How was your experience working with Varun?
He is very nice actor and will surprise everyone in this film. It doesn’t look like it is his first film. It looked as if he is born to do this only. We all worked like a big family and shared laughter, stress and anxiety in order to pull this off well.
Would you prefer to do intense roles or comic?
I am a very greedy actor and would love to do both. I feel comedy films are the toughest things to do. What Govinda and Johnny Lever can do, is phenomenal and very difficult to reach that benchmark.
Are you a method actor or a spontaneous one?
I try everything that works for the film. I am a last-minute actor who can jump into acting at the need of the hour. If spontaneity comes at that time, great. Otherwise, I pray to God and get into the shot.