This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Rhea Chakraborty turned into a hardcore Punjabi girl for her debut Bollywood flick Mere Dad Ki Maruti. From being an ex-MTV VJ who was first seen in an MTV reality show Miss Teen Diva 2009, Rhea did well to bag a film with none less than Yash Raj. Meanwhile, even though Saqib Saleem is a promising youngster (he showed his worth in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge as well, wouldn't she have wanted that in her very first film, she had other Yash Raj protégés like an Arjun Kapoor or a Ranveer Singh as her co-star, if not a Ranbir Kapoor or an Imran Khan?
"Of course I would love to do movies with Arjun and Ranveer," immediately says Rhea, "However I was happy to do a movie with Saqib as well. See, I just want to do movies which have nice scripts and are made by good directors. Moreover, casting is a filmmaker's prerogative and I have to go by his vision."
She adds, "Perhaps Ranveer or Arjun didn't fit the bill for Mere Dad Ki Maruti but Saqib did. May be with other actors, I would do some other films. However I am not thinking about it for now. My focus is on one film at a time since this is what that matters for now."
That indeed holds true for her, what with her character (Jasleen) in Mere Dad Ki Maruti bringing on smiles whenever she appears on screen.
"Yes, it was great to be playing someone who was free spirited and didn't have any issues in letting the world know that she had it in her to make everyone sing to her tune", smiles Rhea.
In real life though things weren't as straight forward for her as she had to be constantly on her toes. While in years to follow she may find a stable enough platform for herself where she could possibly make people sing to her tunes, when it came to Mere Dad Ki Maruti, it was pretty much a learning curve that she was stepping on to. Moreover, her co-star Saqib too was someone with just one film behind him. Wasn't that a challenge for the on-screen couple?
"On the contrary, it was an advantage. Instead of two lost puppies on the sets, we now had just one as I knew that Saqib would be around to help me", laughs Rhea, "He is a great actor who helps his co-actors even when he is not in a frame. A shot may require just me but he would stand behind the camera and keep mouthing the dialogues so that everything goes in a flow. It was good to have him around."
For a Bengali girl like her, it seemed pretty effortless for Rhea to play a Punjabi character. She is confident that in months and years to come, she wouldn't be stereotyped in roles with Punjabi shades or base.
"See, my dad has been in Army, I have lived in cities like Ambala, Agra, Delhi, Chandigarh and grown up all over. My mom is Konkani. My cousins are again spread across the country. Due to this, I have never felt being restricted to any particular state of city. I have shifted number of schools and as a matter of fact, my high school was in North India. This is where I picked my accent too. You would notice that my Hindi is very much like the one spoken in North India," says Rhea, "However I can play anyone and everyone. My origin and language has never been a problem."
With her returning as Sonali Cable in the namesake film by Rohan Sippy, we indeed look forward to what Rhea has in the offering now.
Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more
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