Bollywood’s masala girl Sonakshi Sinha has a range of films that appeal to the masses and also to the intellectual audience. While she picks up roles like a ‘Rowdy Rathore’ or a ‘Son of Sardaar’ catering to the whistle blowing audience, she also has a ‘Lootera’, which compels people to sit up and watch her perform. She doesn’t want to wipe out any films from the list and is certain that she will not pick films on what others expect her to do. Awaiting the release of her next A R Murgadoss’, ‘Holiday’, on June 6, she chats with Deccan Chronicle on changing gears to be an action heroine, being more fit, shooting with the legendary Rajinikanth and the scope of VFX in Bollywood films and in no mood for ‘Gandi Baat’.
You just returned from shooting with superstar Rajininath? Tell us about your experience…
It was so nice of him to be so grounded and make everything comfortable for me. I have never seen someone so humble. In between shots, everyone is sitting together and he doesn’t sit separately. We were shooting under the sun and I was sitting on the floor for one shot. He took off his jacket and he made sure he covered me with it from the sun. I mean, it’s unreal!
‘Kochadaiiyan’, made out of motion capture technology, did look interesting. How far is the industry away from making VFX movies?
I think it’s very new and the quality needs to improve. That can only happen once the budgets improve. But yes, they excite me a lot and we will try it out for our production house as well.
From ‘Dabangg’ to ‘Holiday’, it has been a lot of films in a short span in time… What’s your current state of mind?
I am content. (she smiles and that pretty face makes you believe that there aren’t any specific roles she chose which backfired)
While your films achieve the box office benchmark set by the industry, don’t you fear being repetitive in your roles?
(Reacts instinctively) But before I sign a film, you don’t know whether a film will do Rs 100 crores or not. I sign it because as an audience I like to see such films. I like to whistle and clap in the theatres. So I don’t pick up films on what other people expect me to do. My audience like me because of the kind of films I have done and these films have got me a wider audience. I love being part of them. But films like ‘Lootera’ come as rare. I was under a lot of pressure to do one more film like that but no one had a script as perfect as that…I am waiting…
Your leaked picture from the sets of Sanjay Kapoor’s ‘Tevar’ has got everyone talking about how different you look…
My aim now is to just be fit. I started working out in November and it has taken time. The results are only showing now. I looked a certain way in the past 4 years but today I want to be fit, look in a certain way. Earlier, I used to use my schedule as an excuse to not go to the gym. Now I have stopped doing that and that’s the only small change I have made. I don’t stop myself from eating anything because I am a foodie. My funda now is that I workout so that I can eat. I have stopped being lazy. No matter how late I come back from work, I will put on my shoes and walk on the treadmill. Which is why people are now noticing the change now. I’m feeling better by the day and I can see it myself. It’s motivating me in the right way.
Why didn’t you do this earlier?
Nothing in this world will make me do something unless I want to do it.
All good with Boney Kapoor now? He survived a horrible crash…
He is fine now. God’s grace nothing happened to any one inside the car.
Now that you look absolutely fit, would you go for a role of an action girl?
I would love to do an action movie. I would suit the character of an action heroine as I think I have the right height and the body. I have the strength to carry off a role like that. Why not…
With reservations to expose on screen, does it restrict your choices of films?
I think if that were the case of being restricted, I wouldn’t have done 12 films in 4 years. There are no restrictions at all. I do take care of the image I have and that’s not a bad image to have, is it? It has worked for me and it has put me in a position that I am today. If I can be here, without having exposed, or without having done things I am not comfortable with, then I am doing something right. Also, I will never do anything that I am not comfortable with else it will show on screen.
With everything going right for you, do you sit down to decide, what next?
I haven’t strategised or planned or chalked out my path. I am someone who goes by my heart. I never wanted to be an actress and it was completely unplanned.
While you have been fortunate to work with the big stars, filmmakers are now also looking at you to pair with newcomers. Do you think it’s a good move for you?
I think it’s a good move for me. My chemistry has been appreciated with the senior stars and now with the younger ones. I think I can make chemistry work with any actor. Plus, I am no one to decide who should be opposite me.
Any new hobby that you are keen on pursuing apart from facing the camera?
Anything that keeps me occupied on the sets. While shooting for ‘Tevar’, I did horse riding and I am trained rider now.
While Shot Gun movies have made announcements of signing Umesh Shukla, nothing seems to be moving forward. Do you want to first finish all your acting commitments and then work resume work for home banner?
My job is to act and my brothers, Luv and Khush, they are putting together the production together. They are the ones meeting people and locking the scripts.Yes, I will be associated with it for sure.
