Actor Kriti Sanon debuted in Bollywood with Heropanti (2014) exactly nine years ago. One look at the line-up of her upcoming films — Adipurush co-starring Prabhas, The Crew with actors Tabu and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ganapath with actors Amitabh Bachchan and Tiger Shroff, and a rom-com with actor Shahid Kapoor — and you will realize that she has come a long way.

But success did not come overnight for the actor. The 32-year-old says, “I wanted people to know my name and for it to resonate with talent. I always craved validation as an actor. That started happening with Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) and then Luka Chuppi (2019) did well. I was taking baby steps in the right direction. After Mimi (2021), there’s been a huge shift. I got my first set of Best Actor awards. But it took eight years for this to happen.”

There were also “frustrating” times when the Shehzada actor felt she was ready for bigger and better roles, but filmmakers were not ready to cast her. Sanon says, “There were a lot of moments when I knew I could do more, but I did not have the kind of opportunities. When you are from outside the industry, you don’t know people and they don’t know you. It takes a while to make an impact. You do the best you can from what you are offered. It may not necessarily be the best thing in the world, but every film taught me something.”

She’s currently awaiting the release of Adipurush, which is touted to be India’s most expensive film. Looking forward to playing the role of Sita in the film, she says, “I was both nervous and excited to take on this role. There are a lot of sentiments associated with Ramayan and Sita ji. I have tried to give it my 100%. Sita ji was a pure soul with a loving heart and a strong mind. Finding these three qualities together in someone is a rarity.”