“Every character one performs has a challenge”

“Every character one performs has a challenge” - Priyanka

By IndiaFM News Bureau, April 18th, 2005 - 1030 hrs IST

Rising by leaps and bounds after playing second fiddle to Lara and Preity, Priyanka Chopra today has made a mark in Bollywood and can boast of 3 superhits in a career span of 2 years. Racing towards the top position she is already seated comfortably in the 'A' list. Chatting on a busy afternoon with IndiaFM, Priyanka speaks about Waqt, her previous roles and her 'shocking' experiences on the sets.

Two years in the industry, seven releases - three super hits, how does it feel?
It feels good I guess, I have had people like my films, I've had people like my work and of course when you are encouraged for your work it feels good.

You debut as a hot chick, now we sense a conscious image makeover, why do we see a sudden allergy towards sexually assertive female characters?
Its not an allergy, those were characters that were played, these are characters that are played separately. I don't want to be slotted as somebody who can just do one kind of thing. I have proved my point as somebody who can perform an aggressive character. I did a Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, which was a softer character, and now I have Waqt coming up which is a very Indian character, so I want to play a variety of characters, it does not have to be one sort of a role.

What is your character in Waqt like?
She is a very simple girl; she is a spoilt brat, a daughter of a very rich man. She is very naļve; she doesn't understand that life can be difficult. Because she is brought up with every possible luxury that she would want and then suddenly she reaches a point where she has to deal with life and see how difficult it can be.

What were your working vibes with senior actors like Boman and Shefali?
It was lovely to work with everybody in the film, I hadn't worked with Amitji before, nor with Shefali and Boman, the only person I had worked with was Akshay. Boman plays my father, and seeing actors like Amitji, Shefali and Boman teaches you so much.

What do you think makes Amitabh the ultimate star?
His lust for his work, his love for his job. His requirement to breathe cinema and filmmaking, that's what makes him love what he does and makes people love what he does.

Pick your favourite song from the album Waqt?
I like so many of them, but my favourite is Toot Gaya, which is a sad song. It always makes me cry and makes me sad. But I also like Apne Jahaan Se, which is a song between Amitji and Akshay, then I also like Chup Ja Chup Ja which is a very beautiful song… yeah I like a lot of songs from the film.

Tell us about any memorable incident on the sets.
I think shooting for the Holi song was very memorable for me because I got electrocuted while shooting for the song, I got stuck to my van and got unconscious…it was very dramatic. Doctors had to be called and all…so that is definitely the most memorable shot for me.

How good is Vipul with heavy-duty emotions?
Vipul is very good with emotions because he is a very emotional person himself. Shefali and Vipul are probably the most wonderful people I have ever met in this industry and there are very few people who are like that. It's wonderful to get along with and be able to work with somebody like that. Vipul knew exactly how the emotional content of the film is going to be like. He has given in this film everything that he has got in terms of being a director.

Waqt is a social drama - are you a sucker for hanky wringer romances?
Oh ya… I love sweet corny films.

What do you enjoy more, playing a grey character or being a Bollywood heroine?
I think each one of them is very different. Playing a negative character is challenging because you don't relate with it, playing a Hindi film heroine is something that I don't relate with either so its difficult too. Then if you play real characters, they are even more difficult as you have the burden of convincing people that the character is real. So every character one performs has a challenge to it.

How does it feel to be the woman on top?
I wouldn't say that, I have a long way to go. It's been a very short span of time that I have been around and I want to do lots more and wait for people to judge me on that.

If Miss World had not happened would you still be an actress?
No. I'd be an engineer right now.

More on Waqt

Send us your feedback on this feature