As we sit opposite a hungry Janhvi Kapoor who has flown down from her Good Luck Jerry shoot in Chandigarh, she requests her Man Friday to source parathas. “A month of Chandigarh has spoilt me. I am on a steady diet of parathas and butter,” she laughs, before readying to talk all things Roohi. Her fourth outing after Dhadak (2018), Ghost Stories (2020) and the understated Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020) is far from your run-of-the-mill fare. In the Jio Studios’ horror comedy, also featuring Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma, Kapoor takes centre-stage as a woman possessed by a ghost. Describing it as a physically draining film, she says, “After the shoot, my tresses would be filled with bugs. My hair was a horror show in itself.”

The film is personally important to her — with the narrative-driven by her character, she hopes to prove her mettle as an actor. “After Dhadak, people were divided on whether I can act or not. I knew main khokli artiste nahin hoon; I hadn’t showcased my skills enough in that film. I work with the objective that I want to grow as an actor. I don’t want to be boxed. People are quick with opinions, and I know I have to keep chasing diverse roles to prove myself. In Roohi, I surrendered myself to the two diametrically opposite characters. There were scenes where I had to switch between the two roles in the same take. I had a blast doing the film because it offered a vast playing field. I did not care about vanity, and look scary in the movie.”

While Kapoor’s choice of projects is garnering attention, her competition with peers Sara Ali Khan and Ananya Panday is often discussed. The actor is game for healthy competition. “But in this industry, it is often made bitter. I don’t understand the voyeuristic pleasure sought from putting two of us, side by side, and asking who wore an outfit better. It’s an extension of their idea of pitting women against each other. Right now, there are 10 actresses who have huge fan bases and enviable line-up of films. Then, why should comparisons be made among the three of us? As an actor, I won’t hold back from appreciating my contemporaries’ work.”