Sonakshi Sinha seems to have found her space and rhythm in Bollywood. From playing the demure and proper heroine, she’s now found her comfort in going after characters that are edgy and connect with her at a deeper, emotional level. Whether it’s the role of a cop in Reema Kagti’s show, her character in Double XL or the character she’s reportedly playing in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s web series. Although she can barely sit through a horror film as an audience, she has played a pivotal part in the horror-comedy Kakuda.

Sonakshi says, “I don’t want to do anything that’s repetitive, ever. With every project, I’m attempting a new genre. Like the horror-comedy space. I don’t watch horror films. In that sense, acting in one was tough. I have to admit that I enjoyed being a part of that crew. More than anything else today, the work I do has to challenge me. Even now I can’t watch horror films, but I will make an exception and watch Kakuda because we did such interesting things. Like, I have realised that a lot of things depend on VFX in such films. On so many occasions, I found myself emoting or reacting to things that weren’t even there. I had to imagine them happening or being there. That’s the real challenge in this space.”

In her years as an actor, Sonakshi has hardly ever played a badass character. Ittefaq was the closest, she says, that she ever got to playing a negative part. “I badly want to play a negative character. I want to play a badass girl on screen. I really want to sink my teeth into something of that sort. I have never really played an outright badass. And that’s also because no one quite writes that kind of stuff for women. But I want to venture into that space. Now, that’s a challenge and that’s a space that I want to explore in the coming time,” she shares.

After over a decade in business, Sonakshi admits that she feels enthused by the changes at every level. “When you see the tide shifting in the business, it feels great to be able to rise to the challenges that come along,” she says, adding, “With avenues opening up, industries becoming a more cohesive space and so many sub-genres of content opening up, we have so much to choose from. I have worked in the South industry before, but I haven’t done a project there in a long time due to my commitments here. But now, I would like to look at something there. I just find so much variety in our content today, both as a consumer and as a performer. It is mind-boggling.”