"Seeing the pride in my parents’ eye was special,” Kriti Sanon tells us after receiving the Best Actress National Award in the capital for Mimi. From waiting to win any award for best actress for years, to now being a National Award winner, Kriti has come a long way. Excerpts from a chat:

This award is the highest form of validation that any actor can receive in this country. It is something that all actors dream of. You don’t think of getting a National Award because you don’t get it easily. It’s a big one. I had not even received any best actress award before Mimi. So I thought a National Award is far away, but I still wrote it in my diary in 2020. To receive it within a decade of being in this industry is a huge deal. The kind of pride that I saw in my parents’ eyes when the award was announced, how overwhelmed they were, was special. When I told my father about it, he jumped up and hugged me. He had tears in his eyes, which is extremely rare for him. It took my mother a few seconds to believe it was true. She thought somebody was playing a prank on me. She rushed back from the salon, where she was, and hugged me. It was such a sweet moment.

Mimi has been a special film. Everyone associated with it has been very passionate about it. It offered me so much to do as an actor, which I was craving for. Sometimes you need a character that allows you to explore your potential as an actor. Mimi gave me that. There were so many challenges, both emotional and of physically transforming myself by gaining almost 15 kgs. While we were shooting the film, we divided the pre and post pregnancy shoots as happy and sad schedules. In the sad schedule, every single day had very draining scenes. I was dealing with a three-year-old Scottish child who had no idea of acting, did not know Hindi and had never faced the camera. It was not easy. I didn’t tell him my real name, he used to call me Mimi. I had to become his best friend and played with him in between scenes - and that’s when you get magical moments. I am so thankful that Dinesh Vijan (producer of Mimi) gave me that chance. Laxman Utekar (director of Mimi) sir believed I could do it and I was ready to give it my everything. He used to call me Mimi, and would say, ‘Mimi aap dekhna, iske liye aapko National Award milega’. I used to tell him that I have not even received a best actress award, but he believed it.

(At the National Award ceremony) Pankaj sir and I were talking about the film and he was like ye agar theatre mein aati toh kamaal karti. We held the film for a year, and I always felt that Mimi was meant for theatres. We are used to box office numbers being the only sign of validation. I think today that every film has its own destiny. Mimi has gotten all the love even on OTT. A friend who was confused about adoption told me that after watching the film they decided to adopt. Someone’s mother was not okay with them adopting a child but after watching Mimi, she was okay with it. These stories were precious. I feel that if you make such an impact, it’s beautiful. A good film will get what it deserves, it doesn’t matter on what platform it comes.