She is Bollywood’s busiest actress — in between promoting Don 2, shooting for Krrish 3 and gearing up for Agneepath, Priyanka Chopra tells t2 how Roma has always been her own and why you need to set up a date with Don 2 this weekend…
What feedback have you been getting for the Don 2 promos?
Very positive… very encouraging. Everyone who has reached out to me has said they can’t wait to see Don and Roma come together on screen again. Like the first film, everyone is expecting fireworks. Now, I am just waiting for December 23 to see how the audience reacts. It’s a really exciting film for me… a film that I had a lot of fun making and I am eager to see how people react to it.
How is the Roma of Don 2 different from the Roma of the first film?
I am far more kickass in this film! (Laughs). It’s been five years since the last film and so Roma has had to evolve quite a bit. She is a lot angrier now because she was betrayed badly by Don in the first film. She’s just waiting to get her hands on him… to teach him a lesson, come what may. I think that is what makes her a lot more exciting this time around. Here, Roma is badass!
In the first film, you had Zeenat Aman’s Roma in the 1978 original as the blueprint. In Don 2, it’s a new story and a different character. How did you prepare for it?
Just like I do for all my films. Here I had to bear in mind what Roma’s character was like in the first film and take it from there. It was a completely new experience because, as I said, Roma is far more aggressive in this film. My body language, my nuances had to be far more aggressive. But even in the first film, I never based my character on the one played by Zeenat ma’am. Roma has always been my own. Just like I had figured out what she should be like in Don, I knew what to do with her in Don 2.
You have done some amazing action scenes in Don 2…
I like doing action, I enjoy it. I have always done my stunts myself. Since she plays a cop, Roma’s character warranted that I do a lot of action… a lot of running around. Every stunt, every action scene that you see Roma doing in this film has been done by me. It was very thrilling… very exciting.
What was it like working with the same team four years on?
It was awesome. It was amazing getting back with the whole team because of the comfort level we had developed in the first film and which extended here as well. Normally, when you start a film, you take some time to adjust… there is some awkwardness sometimes. But here, things were comfortable from day one. We felt like we had actually shot for the two films back-to-back and not four-five years apart. Things were so seamless, so comfortable.
Between Don and Don 2 Farhan Akhtar has also become a successful actor. Does that add to Farhan the director?
I think Farhan is a brilliant director. From the first shot, he knows where he wants his film to go. He’s always very clear, very confident and has everything within his grasp. He knows what he wants from his actors and he makes sure he gets it from them. I experienced this during the first film and even more in Don 2. Now whether that has to do with him turning actor, I don’t know (laughs). All I can say is that if you liked Don, then I can tell you that he has made an even better film this time… it’s an amazing film.
You have always been a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan. Is it tough being in a film where your character hates his character?
(Laughs) I think Shah Rukh is an amazing actor. He is a pleasure on set to watch. Roma and Don share this love-hate relationship in the first film which kind of turns into hate-hate in the second film. But as Don says, Roma is a bad habit that he just can’t seem to give up. There’s a crackling chemistry that exists between our characters.
Lara Dutta and you started off together, both in fashion and film. How was it like sharing screen space with her eight years after your debut film Andaaz?
Oh, it was lovely… except for the fact that Lara and I didn’t have any scene together! We met one day when our schedules overlapped and we sat down for hours and chatted… caught up on each other’s lives. I am so happy for Lara and Mahesh (Bhupathi). They are having a baby and I can’t believe it’s all happening so fast. It just seems yesterday when we won Miss India together [Lara was one and Priyanka two]. I am really very happy for her.
If you had to sell your film to the audience this Friday, what would you tell them?
Don 2 is meaner, sexier and has everything that can guarantee a thrilling movie experience. This film truly lives up to the line ‘Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin namumkin hai’. It’s your best bet for entertainment this Christmas. If you have liked Don, then you will be blown away by Don 2.
What feedback have you been getting for the Don 2 promos?
Very positive… very encouraging. Everyone who has reached out to me has said they can’t wait to see Don and Roma come together on screen again. Like the first film, everyone is expecting fireworks. Now, I am just waiting for December 23 to see how the audience reacts. It’s a really exciting film for me… a film that I had a lot of fun making and I am eager to see how people react to it.
How is the Roma of Don 2 different from the Roma of the first film?
I am far more kickass in this film! (Laughs). It’s been five years since the last film and so Roma has had to evolve quite a bit. She is a lot angrier now because she was betrayed badly by Don in the first film. She’s just waiting to get her hands on him… to teach him a lesson, come what may. I think that is what makes her a lot more exciting this time around. Here, Roma is badass!
In the first film, you had Zeenat Aman’s Roma in the 1978 original as the blueprint. In Don 2, it’s a new story and a different character. How did you prepare for it?
Just like I do for all my films. Here I had to bear in mind what Roma’s character was like in the first film and take it from there. It was a completely new experience because, as I said, Roma is far more aggressive in this film. My body language, my nuances had to be far more aggressive. But even in the first film, I never based my character on the one played by Zeenat ma’am. Roma has always been my own. Just like I had figured out what she should be like in Don, I knew what to do with her in Don 2.
You have done some amazing action scenes in Don 2…
I like doing action, I enjoy it. I have always done my stunts myself. Since she plays a cop, Roma’s character warranted that I do a lot of action… a lot of running around. Every stunt, every action scene that you see Roma doing in this film has been done by me. It was very thrilling… very exciting.
What was it like working with the same team four years on?
It was awesome. It was amazing getting back with the whole team because of the comfort level we had developed in the first film and which extended here as well. Normally, when you start a film, you take some time to adjust… there is some awkwardness sometimes. But here, things were comfortable from day one. We felt like we had actually shot for the two films back-to-back and not four-five years apart. Things were so seamless, so comfortable.
Between Don and Don 2 Farhan Akhtar has also become a successful actor. Does that add to Farhan the director?
I think Farhan is a brilliant director. From the first shot, he knows where he wants his film to go. He’s always very clear, very confident and has everything within his grasp. He knows what he wants from his actors and he makes sure he gets it from them. I experienced this during the first film and even more in Don 2. Now whether that has to do with him turning actor, I don’t know (laughs). All I can say is that if you liked Don, then I can tell you that he has made an even better film this time… it’s an amazing film.
You have always been a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan. Is it tough being in a film where your character hates his character?
(Laughs) I think Shah Rukh is an amazing actor. He is a pleasure on set to watch. Roma and Don share this love-hate relationship in the first film which kind of turns into hate-hate in the second film. But as Don says, Roma is a bad habit that he just can’t seem to give up. There’s a crackling chemistry that exists between our characters.
Lara Dutta and you started off together, both in fashion and film. How was it like sharing screen space with her eight years after your debut film Andaaz?
Oh, it was lovely… except for the fact that Lara and I didn’t have any scene together! We met one day when our schedules overlapped and we sat down for hours and chatted… caught up on each other’s lives. I am so happy for Lara and Mahesh (Bhupathi). They are having a baby and I can’t believe it’s all happening so fast. It just seems yesterday when we won Miss India together [Lara was one and Priyanka two]. I am really very happy for her.
If you had to sell your film to the audience this Friday, what would you tell them?
Don 2 is meaner, sexier and has everything that can guarantee a thrilling movie experience. This film truly lives up to the line ‘Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin namumkin hai’. It’s your best bet for entertainment this Christmas. If you have liked Don, then you will be blown away by Don 2.
-The Telegraph
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