Filmfare – July 2019

INTERVIEW

K

eento doHindi

films,Rakulkick-

startedherjourney

withDivyaKhosla

Kumar’smusical

Yaariyan(2014).

Hersecondfilm,Ramesh

Sippy’sShimlaMirch,

oppositeRajkummarRao

howeverhasremained

inthecans.Lastyear,

sheappearedinNeeraj

Panday’sAiyaary, an

actionthrillerwithManoj

BajpayeeandSidharth

Malhotra.Though

criticallywell-received,

thefilmfailedto cutice

commercially.

ButwithDDPD, there’s

nolookingbackforRakul.

Hercharacterof the

London-basedAyesha

byhim.Buthewaswarm

andwelcoming.I didn’t

feelI wasworkingwith

a superstar.”Shegoeson

to shareaninteresting

childhoodmemory,

“RukrukfromAjaysir’s

Vijaypathwasmyfavourite

song.I wonprizesin

schoolforsingingit during

competitions– oncea

teddybearandlatera

trophy.”She’sthrilled

thatlifehascomefull

circle.SheadmiresAjay

asa professional.“He’s

sorelaxedontheset.He

doesn’tstressanddoesn’t

allowyouto behassled

either.Aboveall,he’s

punctual.If youcallhim

at 5 am,he’llbethere,”she

says.Sheaddsthathe’sa

preparedforsucha role.

“Today,I’mmoreprepared

asanactorandasa person

to dealwiththepressures

thatcomealongwiththe

job.I’vebeenspending

muchtimeinMumbai.

I holdfourmeetingsina

day.I hopepeopletake

noticeof methistime.”

Shehasaninteresting

line-uptolookforward

to.She’sfinished

shootingforMilap

Zaveri’sactiondrama

MarjaavaanwithSidharth

Malhotra.DownSouth,

shehasManmadhudu

2 withNagarjunaand

NGKoppositeSuriya.

Reportedly,shewill

romanceNithiinina

filmdirectedbyChandra

A WEIRDHABIT

Readingmenus

onZomato

A FILMYOUCANWATCH

AGAINANDAGAIN

DilwaleDulhaniaLe

Jayenge(DDLJ)

CHARACTERS

YOUWISHEDYOU

HADPLAYED

Veeraof Highway,

GeetofJabWeMet,

SimranofDDLJ

A FAVOURITE

LIPSTICKSHADE

TwigbyMac

SOMETHINGYOU’D

LIKETOCHANGE

ABOUTYOURSELF

I’mrestless.

I can’tsitin oneplace.

YOURNICKNAME

EvereadyBattery

ONETHINGYOULOVE

ABOUTYOURSELF

ThatI canmulti-task.

YOURCELEBRITY

CRUSH

RanveerSingh

ANOBSESSION

I haveanOCDabout

beingpunctual.

ANIMPOSSIBLEWISH

To eateverythingand

notputonweight.

Don’tblame the industry alone.Therearegood and

badpeople everywhere. Exploitationexists everywhere.

Some peoplemisusetheirposition. Nowthe lawwill

punishthem

Fire

Rapid

doting father. “He looks

forward to spending time

with his kids after pack-up.

I respect the family man

he is.” She has words of

appreciation for Tabu too.

“Her command over the

language is amazing. Her

eyes speak. As an actor

you observe and learn

from her.” She values the

opportunity of working

with seniors. “When

you have talented actors

around, you push yourself

to the maximum limit. You

have to match up to their

level. If you get nervous,

then you’re letting go of the

chance to prove yourself.

Life doesn’t give a second

chance.”

She believes in staying

positive. She says she

could crib about having

done DDPD earlier in her

career. But that would

be wrong as she was not

Sekhar Yeleti.

It may be mentioned that

actor Alok Nath, producer

Luv Ranjan and casting

director Vicky Sidana,

who are facing #MeToo

allegations, are associated

with DDPD. What does

she have to say about that?

“Like Ajay sir has already

said we had finished the

shooting of DDPD before

#MeToo happened. The

matter is sub-judice. I’m

no one to comment,”

she excuses herself and

continues, “About Luv sir,

I can only talk from my

experience. My experience

with the team has been

great. Luv sir’s mother,

dad, sister... all would

be on the set. It was like

one happy family.” She

applauds the crusade

though saying #MeToo is a

great initiative. “My heart

goes out to those women.

has struck a chord with

the audience. “Ayesha

is a fun-loving girl. She’s

independent, smart, free-

spirited and outspoken.

She’s today’s girl. She’s a

bartender and loves her

job as much as she loves

alcohol,” she laughs. Rakul

had to lose around 10 kilos

for her role. “I worked

out. I attended bartending

classes, dance classes...

to get into the character,”

says the fitness enthusiast,

who runs a franchise of

gyms in Hyderabad and

Visakhapatnam.

That she was noticed

despite sharing the frame

with actors like Tabu and

Ajay Devgn is a matter

of pride for her. She

confides she was nervous

when facing the camera

with Ajay. “I’ve grown

up watching Ajay sir. So

you do get intimidated