Kriti Sanon, who plays a girl-next-door in Bareilly Ki Barfi, says in order to prove one’s talent an actor must take on an unglamorous role sometimes.
Sanon has won praise for looking beautiful on screen, but plaudits for her acting have eluded her.
The actress explained: “Yes, the general perception still is that if you have a pretty face, you are a bad actor. In fact, I was also told in my initial days that there are no flaws in my appearance to look real. You still have to play a de-glam role to prove your acting skill.”
She says it’s unfair.
She added: “I think as an audience, for me, what interests me is how layered the character is, if there is some complexity in her character that could engage me to watch. Perfection of her appearance has got nothing to do with her personality, right?”
“Overall, if the film and your character connect with the audience, then people also notice your performance. Having said that, I know that critics start noticing our performance beyond the beauty when playing a so-called ‘de-glam’ role.”
In Bareilly Ki Barfi, Sanon plays Bitti Mishra, a girl from Uttar Pradesh.
The Dilwale actress says she connects with the character.
“Though Bitti is from a small town, she is a broad-minded girl. She questions every regular thing like why can’t girls do this or that; she is a very rational minded person. I am also like her and that is why I could connect with her so much,” she said.
However, there is dissimilarity, too.
“She wants a man to get married to, who can accept her the way she is, more than anything else. When it comes to me, love has to happen to get married,” she said.
This is the first time Sanon has worked with actors Ayushmann Khuranaa and Rajkummar Rao.
She said: “Since they come from a theatre background, their approach towards a character is quite similar and that helped me to enhance my performance; because acting is also about reacting to your co-actors.”
