00:00Indian films sadly are a man's medium. It is a man's game and that is the way our society functions.
00:08How much we want to deny it, it is a man's world.
00:10I am not an ambitious person at all. I am a person who just does what she is doing because she likes doing it.
00:17All you can do is be a good actor. Whether or not you are supposed to be a star is written in the stars. It's not in your hands.
00:23I have never really thought of becoming an actress. Since I really know what is what, I have been acting because my mother has been doing theatre for 25 years.
00:39It was before I was born. Since I was born, I have been doing theatre with my mother. I have been acting since I was a child.
00:46Whenever there was a small girl's role in her play, I used to do it. It was obviously like that.
00:52They were doing it on a very professional level. It wasn't a Ganpati show. It was a very professional theatre and that's where I learnt how to act I guess.
01:04My first film was Naseem. That happened accidentally. My mother was working in that film and the director saw me and convinced me to do that film.
01:14Then came Papa Kehta, which also happened to me. I was never wanting to be in Bombay or Bollywood for that matter.
01:20I was too young to even think about what I wanted to do. I was studying and generally planned a career of engineering and stuff like that.
01:27So I just ended up being here because I guess I was destined to be here.
01:32How has your journey been as an actress?
01:35See, generally what happens with everybody is they get into the line and they struggle to make it.
01:42I got in the other way. Before even knowing what it was all about, I was already there with a film which gave me a big name and hype
01:50which I was not able to understand at that point of time. You need a value.
01:54Then came the struggle for me. Films came but then whatever delays and stuff like that.
02:00So I learnt my lessons or I learnt whatever was to be learnt to make it here after doing a couple of films, not before doing them.
02:10So that is my journey of learning and understanding and valuing all the experiences came after a couple of releases.
02:17That's why today I know the value of the films that I am doing, which I initially didn't.
02:21Because for me they were just happening. They were happening to me. Now I value them because I know how important they are.
02:27How have you grown up as an actress?
02:30I wouldn't say. I mean that would be such a, I mean that would be too much.
02:37I would be talking too big for my boots. It's not done. I mean I have hardly done much.
02:41I have just been here and I need to do a lot more to say that I have grown as an actress or whatever.
02:46I can only say I am more experienced. I can't say I am better or I have done a lot.
02:51I hardly have done anything. I have to prove myself yet.
02:54Did you ever have a dream of being an actress?
02:57Like I told you, yeah I had a dream but my dream was never to be an actress because acting was a part of me.
03:03I was always acting. So to become an actress was nothing new to me.
03:07For me becoming an engineer or going to an MBA thing and having your own office in your factory, that kind of a thing was my dream.
03:13To own something, to be a corporate woman. That was my dream.
03:17Because acting was a part of my household. So becoming that was not a big thing for me.
03:22And you always brought up to realize that no matter what field you are in, it is just a job you are doing.
03:27So my dreams were never about becoming something. My dreams were about doing something.
03:32Like becoming corporate woman or travelling around the world or doing something.
03:35Not about becoming any actor, actress or anything like that.
03:39Yeah of course, I had a lot of icons. I was crazy about a certain heroine or a certain hero.
03:45At certain point of time, that's a teenage process which happens. I think it happens to me even now.
03:49It hasn't changed just because I am an actress now.
03:52What do you think when you see yourself on the screen?
03:56I always hate myself. I always think, oh I could have done better.
04:01I definitely could have done it better. But then you make excuses for yourself.
04:05At the end of it you say, next time if I get to do this, I am going to do it much better. That's about it.
04:10Well, how ambitious are you as an actress?
04:14I am not an ambitious person at all. I am a person who just does what she is doing because she likes doing it.
04:21I will not go to extents of anything to reach anywhere because I think it's very futile.
04:26And that's not just about my career. That's the way I deal with life.
04:29So, ambition is something I wouldn't get involved in. I love my job. That's why I am doing it. That's about it.
04:35What do you want to achieve as an actress?
04:38As an actress, I just want to set a standard for myself, not seeing anybody else.
04:43I don't want to be like anybody else. Not because anybody is less or anything.
04:48But I really don't think one can be like others. So I don't want to be like anybody else.
04:52I just want to know that when somebody sees me, they should say she has done a good job. That's it. That's about it.
04:57How do you handle competition in the film industry?
05:00See, I know the competition is very cutthroat. But it is also an actress.
05:04And how much I would like to be a part of it, I can't be. So I have my own way to deal with things.
05:10There are a lot of talented people here, a lot of them. And to each one, I guess after a point you get what you deserve.
05:18And all you can do is whatever you get, you give it your best. That is my only way of dealing with things.
05:23And I can't be a part of this. After a point, I can't be into a rat race kind of a thing.
05:28I would love to do a good job, but not at any cost. As I told you, I'm not very ambitious that way.
05:33I love good work. Cinema is my dream or whatever. It is my life.
05:38But I can't get petty enough to, you know, just climb the ladders and pull each other down.
05:43All that thing I can't get into. But I really. And there's so many talented people here, which is true.
05:48And there's very, in a couple of years, the films that are being made are very few.
05:53So I get the best one. The best one wins, I guess.
05:58As a heroine, if you're paired up with bigger names like Hrithik Roshan or Shah Rukh Khan,
06:04the career path often changes after that. How does that happen?
06:08Because Indian films, sadly, are a man's medium. It is a man's game and that is the way our society functions.
06:17How much we want to deny it, it is a man's world. So the more successful the man is,
06:23better it is to be paired with him because it is in their game. A heroine doesn't sell a territory, a man does.
06:29So the more successful the hero is, if you are paired with him, you are considered,
06:33that success is supposed to rub off on you somewhere, I guess.
06:36Have you ever put an effort to get a role opposite a bigger star?
06:40See, I can't think that way. I'm not made that way. I'm not saying it's right or wrong,
06:45but I don't believe in getting roles opposite somebody. I believe in getting films on my own,
06:51for my own good and because of my self-worth, not because of somebody else. I can't work like that.
06:57What does it take to become a star?
07:00I don't know. I wish I knew it because then I wouldn't be it, right?
07:04I guess it just works differently for different people. There's something, I don't know who quoted it,
07:10it says, all you can do is be a good actor. Whether or not you are supposed to be a star is written in the stars.
07:16It's not in your hands. It's really not in your hands. Because anything can happen.
07:20At any point of time, anybody can become a star. The same person who you thought was quite run-of-the-mill,
07:25all of a sudden starts looking like a star to you. This place is a crazy place.
07:29I mean, you can't really have any kind of, you know, saying, this is going to make, there's no formula to becoming a star.
07:36There are no formulas. It is just fluke. Other than that, it is determination and hard work.
07:41That everybody puts in because everybody wants to be successful and, you know, do good work.
07:46But it has to happen. It happens. It's just weird.
07:50When you think of success, what is the standard?
07:53As of, you talk about like current rate of success? What are you talking about?
07:58I have admired a lot of people's work, you know, like Vahida Rahman was, you know,
08:03when she did all those films with Gurudad. For me, that is the kind of work that I would want to do.
08:07You know, that is, that, or maybe, or a lot of Hollywood people, since you watch a lot of English movies nowadays,
08:13a lot of actresses there, you know, you feel like you should do work like them.
08:18So, or even today, when Kajol was doing her, Kajol, you know, she was doing such good films,
08:24or Manisha when she was doing certain films. So, there was always certain people who came and did really good work.
08:29So, for me, I would want to do work like that. And not that I don't, I think it's very low to measure people
08:35by the amount of hits or flops they give, or their current, what do you say, fan following.
08:40I think it's really cheap to look at people that way, especially if you are in that line.
08:44And you know how immaterial that is after a point. So, I only look at people's work and say that, you know, that is how I want to be.
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