Kriti Sanon on her character Dimpy and beyond

Newcomer Kriti Sanon talks about her character in Heropanti and why there are more women entering the industry than men.

On her films:

“I had started with the Telugu film 1: Nenokkadine when I signed Heropanti. Both films are completely different. That was an action thriller, this is a romantic drama. There I play an urban journalist. In Heropanti, it’s Dimpy who comes from a small town in Haryana. She’s bratty and smart, and manipulative in her own way. She has lots of ambition but limited scope because she belongs to a conservative Jat [rural community] family where women are married off early and stay at home. Each day she tries to break through and live her dreams in her own clever way. Yet there’s a lot of innocence in the character, especially when she’s in front of her father, and in a lot of things she doesn’t know about life, she doesn’t question. So this combination of brattiness and innocence is something that I found very endearing”.

From engineering to acting:

“When I was in my second year of engineering I started modelling as a hobby. I did a few ads and while shooting for them I enjoyed being in front of the camera. But acting was not something I had done, though I always enjoyed dancing, and my choreographers would tell me that I was very expressive and should explore acting too. By the time I finished college I’d started thinking of acting because when you like something and take it up as a profession you do it better. I had two job offers in hand but convinced my parents I wanted to come to Mumbai and become an actress. They were very supportive”.

Fewer male newcomers:

“Yes there are more male dominant films, or a balance of the characters. So in that case the responsibility of the film is usually on the shoulders of the guy. In that scenario it becomes a little difficult for the director or producer to think of putting a new boy in that place with such a responsibility. That’s why I feel there’s still kind of lesser opportunities for men in the industry. You do see very often a new girl being cast opposite a veteran male actor and if you count the number of new girls who’ve come from outside the industry, they will always be more than the guys. But there’s always a Ranveer Singh or Sushant Singh coming from outside. I think Kai Po Che is a great example where we’ve had all three newcomers from outside the industry”.

And, of course, Heropanti takes the cake with 21 newcomers.

“Yes! And I think there should be more films like Heropanti made”