Kriti Sanon, one of the top actresses in the industry today, is basking in the appreciation and love she’s getting for her film Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (TBMAUJ), in which she effortlessly plays a robot and looks stunning while at it. The National Award-winning actress talks to us about playing risky roles, her craft and more.

I always felt that people equated good performances to intense scenes and emotions. This character lacked emotions, so I didn’t expect the response to be this overwhelming. To convince the audience that I am a machine in the film was extremely tricky. I knew it was a challenging role, which is what made it easy for me to take it up. There couldn’t have been many references for a character like this.

When I heard the role for the first time, I found it exciting and over time, it became even better. To strike a balance between human and robot as a humanoid was tough. When I was trying to look for a reference, the only reference I could see was Scarlett Johansson’s voice in Her. I couldn’t find references to robots as characters where they were so close to being humans, which made it exciting for me as an actor.

I have always been looking for an out-and-out comedy film. Female actors are not perceived for roles in the comedy genre. Some female actors, like Sridevi ma’am, Madhuri (Dixit Nene) ma’am and Juhi Chawla, have attempted comedy. Personally, I have enjoyed watching films like Andaz Apna Apna, Chaalbaaz and a movie like Queen, which was more of a feel-good film with comedy organically weaved in it.

“People told me that you were completely like a robot, but we felt for you, and that’s what I was trying to achieve. The challenge was to be like a robot, not falter, and seem human-like at the same time. Consistency was the key. At the screening, I saw my sister (Nupur Sanon) laughing and thoroughly enjoying it. She loved Mimi, and after watching this film, she said, this is my best performance to date. Nupur is honest and critical, so her positive reaction meant a lot to me.”