Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 26, 2017)

Aditi Rao Hydari is looking at a year of potential milestones. The Hyderabadi beauty is poised for a Tamil debut with Mani Ratnam's love story Kaatru Veliyidai opposite Karthi, will play Kamala Devi, wife to Ranveer Singh's Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romance Padmavati, and Sanjay Dutt's daughter in his comeback film, Bhoomi.

"A week after I wrapped up Mani sir's film, I started shooting for Sanjay (Bhansali) sir's Padmavati. His attention to detail, be it dance, music or jewellery, is amazing. I'd stand on my head in a snowstorm for them without asking questions," she exclaims.

Mention SLB, the "tough taskmaster" moniker and the 30-year-old actress, quick on the uptake, says diplomatically that even though she did get to see that side of the filmmaker she has no complaints.

"Being a taskmaster is essential to push yourself. Cinema is director's medium, and when a director challenges me, it infuses me with the energy to do better," Aditi asserts.

Padmavati also features Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in the lead but Aditi has no qualms about doing multistarrers even though she admits playing the protagonist is any day better. "Once I want to do a film, I give it my 100 percent. It's 2017 and actors need to change their approach. It's amazing to land an author-backed part, but I also wouldn't think twice about taking up a multi-starrer with a great director," she argues.

Ratnam's film, in which she plays a doctor, required Aditi to learn Tamil. "I tried to grasp the nuances of the language so I could effortlessly internalise Mani sir's instructions. I didn't want language to be a barrier even on that level. It was challenging and now that I'm back in Mumbai and no longer hearing the language being spoken constantly, I'm afraid I might forget it," she sighs. "Mani sir's cinema transcends language. If he had asked me to do the film in German, I would have done it because of the kind of director he is."

While she refuses to discuss the role or her co-star she does reveal that they would start shooting at sunrise so they could utilise as much daylight as possible. "I got to see a new side of mornings on a daily basis," says Aditi who despite her ethereal, old world beauty refuses to be slotted as a sweet innocent.

But it was the little girl innocence that perhaps landed her the role in Sanjay Dutt's Bhoomi. The actress suddenly clams up, refusing to discuss her 57-year-old screen dad or the film. "I've been told not to speak about it," she maintains.

Meanwhile, rumours of a linkup with her Wazir co-star, Farhan Akhtar, which had surfaced around the release of the film last year, have finally died down. Ask Aditi if her 10-year tenure in show business has made her immune to such gossip and she retorts, "I'm a sensitive girl and do get upset but then I see the humour in these concocted stories and move on. At the end of the day, I'm still a kid. I don't know if that's good or bad but that's the way I am."