Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 4, 2017)

Sayani Gupta, who packed a punch with her brief turn in Jolly LLB 2 as a pregnant woman, can easily pass off as someone in her early 20s. But for her next outing, the 31-year-old has shaved off a good decade and a half. The actress plays a 14-year-old in Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif-starrer Jagga Jasoos.

Says Sayani, “It’s the best casting of my life. I love Dada (director Anurag Basu) for having the imagination to see me as a little girl. I enjoyed his audition process; it was so simple. He is quite a genius and this character will always be close to my heart. People who have seen me in the look can’t believe that I am not a teen anymore.”

Not much is known about her part in Jagga Jasoos currently, but we hear, it is a pivotal role. Quiz her about the look and she elaborates, “I remember I had cut my hair short for the audition. Dada was quite surprised because actors don’t do these things before getting the part. Once I went on set on the first day of shoot and we were deciding my character’s look, I insisted that I cut my hair to a little bob.”

While RK’s hair stylist, Ajay, was excited to chop her locks, Basu wasn’t too convinced. “I had the look so vividly in mind that with Ranbir’s help, I finally managed to persuade Dada. [Eventually] He was happy with it. Then I got stuck in this short haircut for over two years, and I loved it.”