Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; February 3, 2020)

On the internet, she appears to be a diva. In person, she’s a tomboy who loves wearing her hair messily, slips into comfy and functional clothes and hops across to a cafe to get herself a cuppa coffee. In a chat with BT, Disha Patani talks about living life on the edge, her social media image, why it’s important to strike a balance between work and life and of course, her sizzling chemistry with co-star Aditya Roy Kapur in Mohit Suri’s upcoming film, Malang. Read on...

After doing just four films in five years, 2020 seems to be busier than usual for you, with Malang opposite Aditya Roy Kapur and Radhe with Salman Khan…
I hope the year goes well. Even after doing a few films, I feel like a newcomer. With every film that works, expectations rise, which is a little daunting. For instance, I love dancing, but when I do it on screen, it’s not for myself. I don’t pick up choreography easily; I rehearse a lot to perfect it. I have to keep my body energised, monitor my diet and put in hours on the floor, but when the results are great, it’s relieving.

Yes, that is evident… you use social media to largely display your fit physique and share workout videos...
(Laughs!) I actually enjoy working out. There’s no better feeling than not having backaches. I have bruised my knees so many times that today, I know the value of keeping my leg muscles in order. Fitness plays a different role in my life. I am sure people think that I do it so I can look a certain way, but with the kind of lives we lead, it’s just so important to stay healthy all the time. I work hard on my body all the time and it makes my dance and action look effortless.

Speaking of Malang, your sizzling chemistry with Aditya has got people talking. Did you know him from before?
Yes, I knew him socially before we started working together. We had met many years ago in a gym where we would workout together. It was a little awkward to meet him as a co-star. If you’ve known someone for a long time, it becomes weird to act with them. In Aditya’s case, it was fun. As buddies, off camera, we took each other’s case. As actors, it was important to get rid of the awkwardness while performing passionate or deeply romantic scenes with conviction. In our case, we just acted our parts out without any strategy in place. We didn’t even chat about the scenes; we just took the plunge. Talking about them would have been stranger.

You’ve said that Sara, your character in Malang,is quite close to your real self. Although you love adventure activities, did you have to prep hard for some of the adventure-sport scenes in the film?
We had very little training for it. Watersurfing and kitesurfing can be difficult; in fact, the latter can be life-threatening, as you could bang yourself into a tree or die in a road mishap because it entirely relies on the kite and the wind. You need years of training to perfect it. Water-surfing is relatively easier. On one occasion, I had to jump from a hill into the water. I was shaking the first time I had to do it for the camera. I injured my head and was hard of hearing for the whole day. I had almost died when I tried that from a smaller height in a swimming pool as a kid. So, it all looks like we were having fun, but it was stressful. Personally, I love doing crazy things but here, we were pushed to just do everything without much training.

Over the last one year or so, there’s been constant chatter about you in the press — some of it is flattering and some of it is not. Does it bother you?
I don’t read much of what’s written about me. Not following news updates just keeps me peaceful. I’ve always kept my life away from the work I do. In this industry, wherever you go, people talk shop. You need to balance that with a simple life where you go back home to other normal things. We’re not just actors, we’re human beings, too. My friends and I don’t talk work when we meet, even though some of us are in the same business. We play video games and chill. When I’m not working, I walk into cafes and buy coffee for myself. I’m usually in messy, relaxed, workout clothes, with no make-up and hair tied in a bun or something. Dressing up is like a little break from that, when I want to be my cute or pretty self. At heart, I am a tomboy and I go back to being that every single day.

Do you feel that there’s too much scrutiny about what an actor wears everywhere he/she goes? There is also a lot of discussion of what they said or did not say. Is that too much to deal with at times?
I don’t Google myself, so I don’t know who says what. Earlier I thought that I’m an actor and my job is to just play a part. But actually, I also have to be entertaining when I meet people, and say these cool and funny things. I’m a boring person and I find it very hard to be funny and gimmicky. As for clothes, at the beginning of the career, you want to dress up and look a certain way. With time, you realise it doesn’t matter. No matter what you do, people will always have something to say. The idea is to be yourself and do what you like.

Have you always lived life on the edge, like your character in Malang?
Not entirely, but in some way I can say that I have. The decision to come to Mumbai, opting for a career in modelling and acting over completing B.Tech was like living on the edge. I am not as young as I was in those days. I was more carefree then and I made decisions which probably, I wouldn’t make today. The decisions worked for me, but now, I am relatively playing it safe. The older you grow the more you start thinking. Of course, sometimes it’s best not to think and go for what your heart says. What’s the worst that can happen? You have to strike a balance between these two spaces — being on the edge and playing it safe. I live alone here, all by myself with my dogs and cats, who are my responsibilities.