‘Raghav now takes a little more interest in films’

Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; July 2, 2024)

Actor Parineeti Chopra says her politician husband Raghav Chadha is largely “disconnected from the world of films”, but after getting married to her last year, things have changed slightly.

“Raghav doesn’t know much about films; he is musically inclined. Of course, since we’re together, he takes a little more interest in what’s going on. He watched Amar Singh Chamkila — he knows the whole history of [the slain Punjabi singer] — and thought it was a wonderful film,” says Chopra, who played Chamkila’s wife and collaborator, Amarjot Kaur, in the film.

The positive response to the Imtiaz Ali directorial, which the actor feels is a first in her 13-year career, has left her beaming. “Any film of mine that has done well has a certain aspect [that viewers have loved], it has never been a 100% reception. Hasee Toh Phasee (2014) and Ishaqzaade (2012) continue to get love, Golmaal Again (2017) had the box-office numbers, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021) had critical acclaim. Every film had a strength, but Chamkila has been my most successful film,” she says.

In the absence of box-office numbers, the all-round appreciation is satisfying, Chopra feels. “In the case of this film, the appreciation feels true and real, and not because of some PR machinery. I’ve met people outside the Hindi or Punjabi speaking belts. Some fans from Nigeria said they watched it! The response didn’t require any sort of polishing,” she wraps up.

‘Pregnancy rumours so clichéd & predictable’
A loose outfit is all it took social media to speculate whether actor Parineeti Chopra was expecting. Laughing off the speculation mill, as she did in an Insta Story earlier this year, she says, “In the last one year, I had put on 16 kg for a film, and that has not been shed yet. The obvious deduction when people see me, is, ‘She got married, she must be pregnant’. I don’t bother about it. If I wasn’t married they wouldn’t say all this. It’s so clichéd and predictable, thinking this about a female actor.”