career growth has never bothered me: Rakul

Playing the role of an athlete in her Friday release ‘Winner’ became a tad easy for Rakul Preet Singh, as she is a fitness freak. “Playing an athlete is just my profession in the film, but the most significant part of the character was that it required me to be optimistic and open to all the happenings that I come across in life- just like the way I am in real life. So the role is very close to my heart,” explains Rakul.

It might be her first outing away from portraying a glamorous role, but Rakul points out that the audience has a lot to look forward to. “When the film’s director Gopichand Malineni narrated me the script, I immediately accepted it because I have never done such a role till now. The role gave me a different dimension to my on-screen personality altogether.”

Working with co-star Sai Dharam Tej, whom she knew for a long time has been a pleasant experience, she dubs. “I knew Sai since I came to the industry, and he was one of my old friends. Many pranks were played on sets. But he is someone who always made sure that he spoke to his mom over phone for an hour every day when we were shooting in Europe. It was heartening to see.”

Having worked with top stars and even the younger crop, Rakul feels pleased and blessed. “It’s a great experience and I am blessed to get such opportunities, but that doesn’t mean I am complacent. I always work hard and value the success. I never think about my career growth and other things, and I always look to give my best shot. I take the success and failures in a constructive way because nothing changes the way I work.”

Talking about opportunities, she has a few regrets for having missed a few plum projects. “Naturally, it feels disappointing to miss out on big ticket flicks (like ‘Brahmotsavam’, etc), but that’s the way industry works. Also, the films that I couldn’t do haven’t fared well at the box-office, so I feel God is with me.”

Reacting to the latest Bhavana incident, she fumes, “It is really depressing and unfortunate, and the culprit’s needs to be severely punished. There’s no point in celebrating Women’s Day if women are not being respected.”

Ask her whether she is ready to feature in women-centric films and she says, “Frankly, no one has approached me with such scripts. Also, I feel I don’t have the experience to carry a film on my shoulders like Nayantara or Trisha. May be in the near future, I would like to do a sports-drama like ‘Mary Kom’.”