One film has led me to another one: Mrunal Thakur on her Bollywood journey

PTI, Apr 20, 2022, 2:49 PM IST

Actor Mrunal Thakur says her journey in Bollywood has been a ”beautiful” and ”organic” process of one film leading her to other interesting projects.

The actor, who made her Hindi movie debut in 2018 with “Love Sonia”, a hard-hitting drama on human trafficking, has worked with top stars such as a Hrithik Roshan in “Super 30”, “Batla House” and “Toofan” with actors John Abraham and Farhan Akhtar, respectively. Thakur, 29, will next be seen opposite Shahid Kapoor in “Jersey” and the actor hopes filmmakers continue to trust her.

“My big ticket to Bollywood was ‘Love Sonia’ and this is the film that the majority of people have not seen. The best thing is that the film did so well in the international film circuits that all the filmmakers that I have worked with have watched the film.

“The reason I got ‘Batla House’ was because of ‘Love Sonia’. Nikkhil Advani was on the jury at the Melbourne Indian Film Festival and ‘Love Sonia’ was the opening film. He saw my performance and cast me for ‘Batla House’,” Thakur told PTI in an interview.

While she was dubbing for “Batla House”, Advani spoke to filmmaker Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra when he was casting for “Toofan”.

“So, one film has led me to another one and it has been a beautiful process. I think my journey has been organic. I would like to thank the makers of ‘Love Sonia’ for casting me because of that film I am actually existing in Bollywood,” she said.

“I will make sure that today I will reach out to the masses by doing commercially and artistically balanced films. Maybe one day I will be capable enough to get the maximum audience in the theatre to talk about a social cause,” she added.

Thakur said her journey as an actor in Bollywood may seem short as her first Hindi feature released in 2018, but she has been working in the television industry before.

“I started working towards my dream from the age of 17 and today I am 29. I am happy that all the films that I have done in three-four years are coming back-to-back so it may seem like a short journey but it is not. ”It took me actually eight years to reach where I am today,” Thakur, who has acted in TV shows like “Mujhse Kuchh Kehti…Yeh Khamoshiyaan”, “Kumkum Bhagya”, said.

Thakur said she believes in going with the flow and is flexible with what she does next.

”I don’t have any inhibitions or timelines. I want to work with new directors, new actors and in different languages. That’s why I am doing a Telugu film. If I get an opportunity to work in French or Spanish films, I will do it,” she added.

The director of “Jersey” Gowtam Tinnanuri liked her performance in “Super 30” and approached her to play the role of Vidya for the Hindi version of the movie.

Vidya, Thakur said, is different from her roles of the past.

”I have been told in the past that I play roles who are supportive (of his partner), girl-next-door, sweet, but then I chose ‘Jersey’, in which the wife is a mean and practical woman stuck in a situation. I am not really playing an emotional anchor to my husband.

“Jersey”, presented by Allu Arvind and backed by Aman Gill, Dil Raju, S Naga Vamsi, is set to release on April 24.

Thakur’s slate is filled with projects such as Ronnie Screwvala-produced war-drama “Pippa”, a comedy with director Umesh Shukla “Aankh Micholi”, Hindi remake of 2019’s Tamil movie “Thadam”, titled “Gumrah” and Hanu Raghavpudi’s Telugu movie with Dulquer Salmaan.

“I was in a headspace where I wanted to do something fun. I had heard comedy is a difficult genre and hence I picked up ‘Aankh Micholi’,” she said.

Talking about “Gumrah”, Thakur said, it is a working title and it was seasoned actor Tabu’s work in “Drishyam” that pushed her to try the genre of thriller.

“It is a thriller and I wanted to do it. I was really impressed by Tabu’s ma’am performance in ‘Drishyam’, I always wanted to play a cop and do something fun and exciting. I want to offer something different to the audience,” she said.