Kangana Ranaut and Aanand L Rai first came together to work on Tanu Weds Manu four years back. But since then, they have both grown as people and in stature. So this time around, when they got to work again in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, they had to deal with not just the challenging battle of emotions between Tanu and Datto fighting for the love of the coy Manu, but also of being constantly challenged by the other. Kangana Ranaut has outdone the performance of every other actress in recent times with her National Award-winning performance in Queen. We will wait to see if she outdoes herself with this film this Friday. Excerpts from a conversation with this extremely talented jodi.

CONVERSATION WITH KANGANA RANAUT:

Aanand L Rai earlier directed you in Tanu Weds Manu. How was your experience working with him once again in Tanu Weds Manu Returns?
The best thing about Aanand is that he is an extremely polite man. When you usually think of directors, you think of people screaming or shouting, and I am not saying that all my directors are like that, but they are normally anxious. But he is not only so calm, he also goes with the conviction of each person working on the film be it the art or music director or whoever else. After Fashion, no one would have thought of casting me in a family entertainer like Tanu Weds Manu but he did it and for me, he is the guy who always believed in me more than I believed in myself.

How different is Tanu Weds Manu Returns from other love stories?
We normally see two strangers meeting in a film and then falling in love. But this is a story about a couple, who are already married and have fallen out of love. It brings out the universal reality that despite two people having different likes and dislikes and possibly, also differing in their ideologies, there exists an intangible bond and that is what finally makes a relationship work. The story about a married couple's love story is rare to see. And that's what makes Tanu Weds Manu Returns special.

Was it difficult to play the roles of both Tanu and Datto, the ath lete from Haryana, both in love with the same man?
I treated both parts differently and treated the roles of Datto and Tanu as if I was going to two different film sets. As Tanu, I hated Datto and as Datto, I hated Tanu. As one, I could not even stand the costumes of the other hanging on the wall. I would actually think that I can't stand this other woman. When you see the film, you will actually see them as so separate. If you didn't see them that way, then you would not be involved in who finally Maddy goes with, as both are me anyways. But that's the achievement of the film.

Given that you have no experience of marriage, was it tough to play Tanu?
It was very difficult, but it was as difficult for me to relate with Datto. I am not as naïve as her. She is a girl who goes to college and is untouched. Her emotional tendencies of falling for a man who is already carrying the baggage of his past in such a way, and to be able to be so rosy-eyed for him. So both Tanu and Datto were characters I don't relate with in real life.

From the trailer, the audience has loved Datto. Do you think that will change after seeing the film?
My sincere endeavour has been to justify the title Tanu Weds Manu Returns. It is the story of Tanu and Manu and the protagonist is very much Tanu and if you end up loving Datto then I somewhere have not done justice to the film. But the audience will be the best judge.

People are calling this your best performance till date. Do you consider it even better than Queen?
Undoubtedly.

CONVERSATION WITH AANAND L RAI:

After Raanjhanaa, what made you go back to making a sequel to Tanu Weds Manu?
I first thought that I wanted to go back to the characters of the film, but then I realised that what excited me the most was catching things from exactly where I left them. Tanu Weds Manu Returns starts from exactly where Tanu Weds Manu had ended, the baraat of Manu entering Tanu's house. Each and every character in the film is the same, just that the sequel is four years post Tanu's marriage to Manu. So, in a true sense, it's a sequel and that's not a selling point, it's an emotional point.

You have now worked with Kangana at two points in her life. The first, when you gave her her first family role. The second now post Queen. Is there a change in her?
I like that Kangana is a headstrong girl who is passionate. I find the self-made feeling with which she is living brilliant. And her growth over the past few years is commendable. And she has changed, but I can tell you that as an actor she was always confident. She can give you a bad shot, she can give you a good shot, but from her point of view, she can't give you a fake shot. Post Queen, there is also a very strong perspective that she brings to her character which, at times, you think why is she thinking so much? She has to deliver, but with all her pluses and minuses she has grown brilliantly in the last four years and she has come up to a point where, as a director, you don't mind giving her more and more challenges and raising the bar for her. What you can't take away from her is her confidence as an actor and she will always play on the front foot and I love that.

Is Kangana difficult to work with?
Over the last few years, both of us have grown and so, when we met this time, there was a certain need to check the level of each other to deliver a good film and while there were teething problems, there was never any misunderstanding, as we know each other so well as people. And that helped us immensely. I also feel that is valid for actors to be difficult. In Kangana's case, you must know what you want from her and you have to be strong about it. And you can do that politely. You can't command her, but you can make her understand. She takes her time, but she does it finally.

What do you like most about her?
That you challenge her and she will bounce back. Also, that emotionally she moves on. If some thing hurts her, she will take a little time, will go into her shell, but will move on finally. She is basically a very independent girl.

Why is it important for you to invest so much of your emotions in your actors?
I want to tell my story in a simple way. Knowing my actor as a person and my emotional involvement with them is the only way I can function. It helps me to communicate with them easily. But above all, what is most important for me is honesty as human beings of the people that I am working with. And the common thing between Dhanush, Kangana, Sonam or Maddy is that they are all honest people. Honesty attracts me.

Why did you choose Tanu to be from Kanpur?
I am from Delhi but born and brought up in those yellow government houses that all look alike. I am basically that middle-class person, who in their own thoughts, is always a small town person. I like to keep my story simple. Kanpur ki girls are known to be teekhi (spicy), which is what the character of Tanu is and so we made her a Kanpur girl in the film. My characters also have some khoobsurat flaws, which I don't rectify by design. For instance, take Manu's character (played by Madhavan). By looks, he looks husband material and not someone who could be a lover, but if I adopt him in my story and make people love the person inside, then whether he is 80 kilos or 90 kilos, ceases to matter.

Is Madhavan anything like Manu in real life?
Madhavan is not like Manu at all. He has a brilliant quality of calculated emotions in him, where he has control over whether you can hurt him or not. He is a strong man unlike Manu. And while I feel that his control over his emotions helps him not getting hurt, I don't like his emotional control over himself. You will be surprised to know that while many people in real life may look stylish and educated, in their hearts they are like Manu only.

You tend to make love stories. What quality as a director do you need for that?
Yes, I tend to make love stories. To make a love story, I feel that you need to be a little more sensitive to others, you have to be able to understand the silences of other people.

You are a desi, Hindi-speaking person. Do you ever feel insecure about it versus your contemporaries?
No, I don't. My horizon is not that large. I am not desperate to prove myself as a filmmaker. I want to just enjoy the space and want to see people happy after the film with the story. And I truly feel blessed as I get my share of love. I am happy that I have made a Hindi film. Tanu Weds Manu was later dubbed in German and they enjoyed watching it as world cinema. But for me, my film is rooted in our culture, it is world cinema only for others.

What next?
Take rest. May 22 will decide which story I will tell next.