Exclusive: Stop categorising characters as 'female oriented' projects, says Sonakshi

Actress Sonakshi Sinha might be playing a journalist in her upcoming film, Noor, but she laughs when she says, “During my childhood days, we were asked to read newspapers to improve our vocabulary, but reading newspapers was never my cup of tea!”

Right from her debut film, Dabangg to the action movie Akira, Sonakshi has managed to play a variety of roles and she says that she is happy with the way her career has shaped up.

“In a short span of time, I have performed varied characters, for which I credit the makers of my films. I have learnt through making mistakes and improved upon them. What more does an actor want?” she asks.

Is it a coincidence that of late, Sonakshi has been opting for female-oriented roles only? “Firstly, one need to stop categorising characters as ‘female oriented’ projects. We are all actors, thus any film with a male or female lead — depends on the content of the tale. It’s high time we do not specifically differentiate between male and female roles,” says the actress, adding, “This is indeed a great time for all of us as actors. Being able to perform varied roles is what we desire. I always wanted to perform action-oriented roles and I derived immense pleasure from doing them.”

Her upcoming film, Noor is set against the backdrop of Mumbai and Sonakshi says she is happy that she got to visit places which she otherwise would not have gone to. Sonakshi has not just made a name for herself in the Hindi film industry, but has also acted in the South, opposite Rajinikanth in the film, Lingaa. And something that not many know about her is that she hates to hear someone else’s voice dubbed for her. “I have never liked anyone lending their voice even for a single line of mine! Needless to say, I would never like to hear a voice-over for any of my characters — in any language. I will learn the language and dub myself. I dubbed for my film, Lingaa too,” says the actress.