Cover Story

Shakti as a film took really long to complete. We were shooting for it for more than a year. I just wanted to slow down on signing new films because I was already shooting for the Tamil film, Nanban in Chennai and Barfee in Mumbai. I wanted to finish these commitments before taking on new projects. So that is the cause of the lull. It is difficult to shoot films at the same time and Barfee required a lot of time to be dedicated to it. It’s a complex and difficult character and I needed to spend time and give it my 100 percent as an actor. I wanted to take it slow because Barfee is an important film for me, being my first Hindi film. I have signed a Telugu film a couple of months back, and I have already started shooting for it. It’s with Allu Arjun and Trivikram.

Your next big release is Nanban in Tamil. Being a remake of 3 Idiots, did you feel that there was added pressure to live up to a sort of a benchmark?

Remaking a hit movie always adds pressure because there is so much expectation from the audience. We have given it our own touch and flavour. Shankar has given it his spin and I just hope the audience likes the movie. It’s not exactly the same as the Hindi version, so you can definitely expect to see something new and fresh. Vijay has a done a great job in the film. I do hope that the Tamil audience would like my performance in the movie.

How was it to work with the director Shankar?

It was lovely working with Shankar. I expected him to be a taskmaster and disciplinarian on the sets, and I was expecting a very serious and strict director. But he was very relaxed. He is very particular about what he wants and he really pushed me to deliver. It was a challenge to live up to his expectations as a director, but I think that is really important when we are remaking a hit film and we needed a director like him who really pushes his actors to give their best. He has done a great job on the songs as well.

How did you get along with the three heroes in the film, Vijay, Srikanth and Jiiva?

It was like a little boys’ club that I was a part of. I used to just sit back and watch them joke around. It strangely felt like I was back in college, and they looked like three friends from college. The camaraderie was similar to what you have among friends and buddies and they just never behaved like actors. So being the only girl in this