Shed
some
light
on
your
character
in
Ishqiya?
I
play
the
role
of
a
widow
called
Krishna.
She
may
be
an
unconventional
character
but
what
I
liked
about
the
character
is
the
fact
that
she
is
very
believable.
The
role
has
gray
shades.
She
is
neither
positive
nor
negative.
All
that
I
can
say
is
that
Krishna
is
very
humane.
She
is
not
apologetic
about
her
needs.
If
she
is
like
a
chameleon
in
front
of
Arshad,
for
whom,
love
is
a
way
to
get
sex,
with
Naseer
she
enjoys
the
way
he
woos
her
in
a
classical
way.
How
would
you
describe
your
character?
As
women,
we
play
a
lot
of
roles
in
life
and
are
not
the
same
everywhere,
whereas,
with
due
respect
to
men,
I
feel
that
a
man
showcases
similar
characteristics
everywhere.
A
woman
is
Kaali,
Durga,
Ramba
as
well
as
Saraswati.
None
of
us
is
a
doodh
ki
dulhi
(pure)
and
we
react
as
per
the
requirement
or
the
demand
of
the
relationship.
Sometimes
we
are
manipulative,
sometimes
we
are
scheming
but
we
are
not
necessarily
bad.
What
attracted
you
to
the
film?
I
was
thrilled-
I
was
thought
of
for
the
role.
I
was
kicked
by
the
fact
that
director
Abhishek
Chaubey
who
has
been
an
assistant
to
Vishal
Bhardwaj
didn"t
want
to
go
in
for
a
conventional
cast
and
had
the
confidence
in
the
first
place
that
I
could
pull
off
Krishna"s
character
who
gets
involved
with
both
men
who
belong
to
different
age
groups
at
the
same
time.
How
did
you
prepare
for
your
part
in
Ishqiya?
I
do
preparations
for
every
role
of
mine
but
for
this
part,
I
needed
to
do
more
preparations.
I
shot
for
Ishqiya
even
before
Paa.
I
knew
I
could
do
a
role
like
that
of
Krishna,
as
an
actor.
Abhishek
gave
me
the
brief
that,
as
a
typical
North
Indian
woman,
I
should
look
voluptuous
for
my
part
and
hence
I
didn"t
make
any
attempt
to
reduce
my
weight
though
I
had
put
on
a
lot
of
weight
at
that
time.
I
could
understand
Abhishek"s
vision
as
a
director
when
I
spent
almost
a
month
discussing
not
only
the
script
with
him
every
day
but
also
talking
about
everything
under
the
sun.
Did
you
go
by
any
reference?
Krishna
is
the
quintessential
Indian
woman.
For
an
actor
like
me
with
a
certain
image,
it
was
very
nice
to
get
a
role
like
this
which
was
new.
I
didn"t
need
to
prepare
in
terms
of
reference
for
this
part.
I
only
needed
to
understand
what
Krishna
would
do
in
various
situations
and
I
did
a
character
building
exercise.
The
thing
is
mostly
women
roles
in
Bollywood
are
not
etched
out
well
in
most
of
the
films
and
they
are
made
either
the
vamp
or
the
ever
suffering
Bharatiya
nari.
Women
are
rarely
portrayed
as
real
characters.
As
an
actor,
it
was
for
me
an
experiment
and
I
could
also
discover
a
lot
about
myself
as
an
actor.
I
feel
much
fulfilled
now-
the
film
is
ready
for
release.
To
what
extent
did
you
depend
upon
your
director
to
give
life
to
your
part?
As
an
individual,
I
do
have
my
own
inputs
for
every
character
that
I
set
out
to
perform,
though
I
have
always
maintained
that
it
is
the
vision
of
the
director
that
counts
ultimately.
Vishal
Bhardwaj
has
written
the
subject
along
with
Abhishek
Chaubey
but
Abhishek"s
interpretation
is
quite
different.
The
biggest
challenge
for
me
was
to
do
every
scene
with
conviction
even
when
there
was
a
difference
of
opinion.
Despite
the
fact
that
he
is
not
only
the
writer
and
producer
of
the
film,
Vishal
did
not
interfere
with
Abhishek
Chaubey
as
far
as
direction
was
concerned
because
he
had
complete
confidence
in
him.
Did
you
hesitate
to
take
up
the
role
because
you
had
to
mouth
a
lot
of
swear
words
and
also
indulge
in
a
smooching
scene
with
Arshad
Warsi?
I
sign
any
film
only
after
I
read
the
complete
script.
If
I
had
not
been
convinced,
I
would
not
have
been
able
to
play
the
role
at
all.
Though
as
Krishna,
I
had
to
portray
a
woman
who
is
aggressive
as
far
as
the
way
she
speaks
and
her
body
language
was
concerned,
as
Vidya
Balan
I
still
would
desist
from
mouthing
gaalis.
Kissing
was
integral
to
the
script
because
the
story
goes
ahead
with
that.
Luckily
in
front
of
the
camera,
I
could
forget
that
I
am
Vidya
Balan
and
make
the
transition
to
being
the
character
that
Krishna
was.
Can
you
elucidate?
I
was
quite
comfortable
with
the
smooching
scene
because
I
knew
Arshad
well
from
the
time
we
had
acted
in
Lage
Raho
Munnabhai
and
he
is
a
friend.
It
all
depends
upon
with
whom
you
are
working.
People
like
Vishal
Bhardwaj
have
a
certain
amount
of
credibility.
I
have
done
the
kissing
scene
with
honesty
and
am
not
ashamed
of
it
at
all,
though
I
should
say
that
as
Indians
we
are
very
private
about
our
display
of
affection.
In
what
way
are
you
different
from
Krishna?
I
would
rather
use
my
merit
to
get
my
way
than
use
my
sexuality
but
Krishna
does
not
think
twice
before
unabashedly
using
her
sexuality
as
a
tool
to
get
whatever
she
wants
from
men.
Did
you
work
a
lot
on
the
costumes
for
your
role?
After
Parineeta
it
was
for
Ishqiya
that
I
had
quite
a
few
trials
for
my
costumes.
I
had
to
pick
out
of
the
one
thousand
and
odd
saris
that
Abhishek
Chaubey
had
chosen
for
me
from
various
places
in
U.P,
because,
as
he
put
it
succinctly,
clothes
also
tell
the
story
in
Ishqiya.
Which,
according
to
you,
are
your
five
best
films?
I"d
name
Parineeta,
Bhool
Bhulaiya,
Paa,
Lage
Raho
Munnabhai
and
now
Ishqiya
as
my
five
best
films,
not
necessarily
in
that
order
as
far
as
merit
is
concerned.
At
the
same
time,
I
would
not
hesitate
to
state
that
Ishqiya
is
the
most
exciting
role
of
my
career
till
date.