Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; November 8, 2018)

Parineeti Chopra decided to reinvent herself and returned to the movies after a six-month break with a glamorous item song in Dishoom, followed by films like Golmaal Returns and more recently, Namastey England. Now, there’s another project she is looking forward to, which opens only next year. The actress will be seen as Akshay Kumar’s leading lady in Kesari, a period film revolving around the Battle of Saragarhi. The actress, despite a smaller screen time than the male actors in film, decided to sink her teeth into the part.

Talking about it, she told BT, “I will take up a great character role with the same ease as a leading lady’s part, but it should be that good. Kesari is one such film. It’s about the Battle of Saragarhi and it’s all about the boys in the film. I have a much smaller role to play, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and I hope that I have done justice to it. I play Akshay sir’s love interest and when I heard the story, I just wanted to do it. In the prime years of my work life, I won’t settle for anything less. I will be a leading lady for as long as the audience wants to see me in that space. On another note, I want to do a full-on period drama of my own. For now, I just love that world they have created for Kesari, it’s historic in more than one sense of the word.”