Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha, who tasted failure when her highly-anticipated period drama ‘Kalank’ got rejected by the audience, is taking the career setback with a generous pinch of pragmatism. She’s disappointed with the outcome of her April release, but she’s not going to let it break her spirit.
“If you are a part of a film and it doesn’t do well then of course everybody who is involved feels a bit disappointed. You can never tell what the audiences are looking for or how they have evolved or changed. Sometimes, when you are so close to the project, you can’t tell what their perspective is going to be,” said Sinha in an interview with Gulf News tabloid! in Dubai. Sinha was in Dubai on Tuesday to meet the winners of contest conducted by telecommunications company du.
According to reports, ‘Kalank’ -- made on a whopping budget of Rs1.5 billion (Dh78.86 million) -- had a brilliant opening weekend with a collection of R620 million, but as the days went by the collections didn't gain momentum and managed to collect only half the production costs.
In the dazzling, bedecked ‘Kalank’, Sinha played a devoted-but-ailing wife who arranges a marriage for her hunky husband, played by Aditya Roy Kapoor, by choosing him a beautiful bride (Alia Bhatt).
As far as scenarios go, it was a ludicrous one that required the viewers to suspend belief at such goodness on display.
“I kept joking with Adi [her on-screen husband in ‘Kalank’] that had this been real life then I would have hung you upside down and been like you can’t marry anyone.”
So do you think such bizarre, surreal scenarios shown in lavish Bollywood films is the reason behind such films or musicals failing?
“You have to ask the writers that… But isn’t that been what story telling has always been about? You can’t always have characters who are ideal or what you want them to be. This is entertainment and these are the world of movies. We have the freedom to write about any characters. If we can write about murderers, then we can write about anything,” said Sinha.
In the last few months, big-ticket Bollywood films with A-listers have been rejected brutally by discerning Bollywood movie lovers. But Sinha isn’t letting ‘Kalank’’s’ failure dampen her spirits. She has already moved on and is currently filming for Dabangg 3 with Salman Khan. Directed by Prabhu Deva, the hit Dabangg series which showed Khan play a cheeky cop and Sinha his spirited wife Rajjo remains one of their biggest blockbusters.
“‘Dabangg 3’ is like going back to home base for me. I feel life has come full circle now. I started off my career with Dabangg 1 and we are now on our third instalment. It’s a first for any actress to be in all their franchises. I am so proud of the fact that I am still a part of ‘Dabangg’.”
Sinha has also asked its makers to give her another iconic, slightly problematic, dialogue such as the one in the original — “thappad se darn ahi lagta saab, pyaar se dar lagta hai” [I am not scared of being slapped sir, but I am scared of love”] that has spawned myriad GIFS and jokes.
“I keep telling the writers of ‘Dabangg’ that it’s time for another iconic one,” said Sinha with a laugh.
Just like how she takes failures on her chin, she is equally pragmatic about the harsh trolls and an army of haters that come her way. The popular actress has often been body shamed and her shrinking frame has evoked polarising comments on her appearance.
“They are quite a few out there. I see them but I choose to ignore them. I don’t think that they [haters] deserve any kind of attention or time of my day or my energy. The only reason why they hate on you is that they can’t be you. That’s what I tell myself.”
Did you know?
Sonakshi Sinha loves playing scrabble on her phone and her phone is her natural extension these days.
“I am not proud of it, but I am pretty obsessed with my phone. I think our lives are on our phones right now. I can’t even remember the last time I have used my laptop, because you can do everything on the phone. We have become so dependent on it.”
