Her last few releases have left critics sighing that the girl who was so dabangg in her debut film has been left with nothing much to do except look pretty and dance to a “Keeda“.

Sonakshi Sinha is unperturbed. “They can sigh all they want, I've never worked for their approval. The audience approves of me and I'm thankful for that,“ she retorts. So why is she being overly cautious about taking on new films? Besides Akira, the in-progress Force 2 and the still-to-goon-the-floors Haseena, she doesn't have any other films in her kitty. The actress insists it's because she wants to experiment with different roles that will satisfy her as an actress. “With a shift in the kind of movies being made, I too am making a shift in the kind of roles I'm playing, I'm evolving,“ she asserts.

She points out that whether it's the aggressive college student in Akira, a RAW agent in Force 2 or a female don in Haseena, her upcoming roles are not just gritty and action-packed but she gets to completely transform in each film. “That excites the Gemini in me, keeps me engaged and interested,“ she quips. It also reinforces the impression that she should not be messed with, on screen or off it. She laughs, “Off screen people already know they shouldn't mess with me, I'm extending that aspect of my personality a bit further now. I've been Miss Goody Two Shoes on screen for too long!“

You wonder if the trolling she got on Twitter in September for speaking out against the four-day BMC ban on the slaughter and sale of meat in the city during the Jain festival of fasting, in the course of which she was called “fat“, “stupid“, “a wretched creature“, and warned to stay away from such debates as she belongs to a “loser khandaan“ has put her off the social media? She retorts, “Nah, they don't have so much power. I'm still very active.“

Right now she's campaigning for the girl child and would like to lend her voice to causes like gender inequality, gender justice and education of the girl child. “When you educate a girl child, you educate an entire family,“ she reasons, adding that she feels equally strongly about the safety of women. “Every woman should be so well-equipped and independent that she doesn't have to count on anyone else to take care of her.“ She is taking the message forward through films like Akira and the Force sequel. While the former is about raw hand-to-hand combat, Force 2 is gunfire and car chases. “In one particular chase, I was in the driver's seat. Luckily, I'm a good driver,“ she quips.

What's the status quo on Akira? Why is it taking so long to arrive? Sonakshi informs that they still have a couple of days of shoot left but post production is on and she's been dubbing for the film. “The release date will be announced soon. One last song is left to record, I've told Vishal (Dadlani) that if it's a choice between Nahid (Indian Idol Junior contestant who was promised she'd playback for Sonakshi in this film), I would want her to sing it. A promise is a promise!“ she avers.

Next up is Haseena in which she plays Dawood's younger sister who succumbed to a heart attack last year in July. Her husband, Ibrahim Parkar, was gunned down by Arun Gawli's men in 1991. Her brother retaliated by killing Gawli's shooters at J J Hospital. After Dawood fled the country, Haseena started looking after his business interests in Mumbai, taking cuts from builders for development and redevelopment, settling disputes and moved up the ranks of the underworld. It's an intriguing story. “A lot of prep goes into a biopic since you are playing a character people know about. It's important to get the language and the nuances right,“ she says.

Meanwhile, when Priyanka Chopra's American TV series, Quantico, opened Sonakshi was one of her biggest cheerleaders.“She has put India out there like no other Indian actor ever has before and that's the honest truth,“ she states. Is there a show in the West she'd like to be a part of? “I love watching Suits, it's intelligent and gripping, and Grey's Anatomy. But the one show that I'd love to be a part of is Modern Family, it's super funny, so so entertaining!“

On Wednesday, September 9, Sonakshi Sinha spoke up against the four-day ban on the slaughter and sale of meat in the city during the Jain festival of fasting.The ban was proposed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and she reacted to it by tweeting, “This is a free country! Welcome to BAN-istan... I meant india.. Stupid autocorrect(sic).“

She was instantly trolled, called' fat', 'stupid' and a 'wretched creature', and warned to stay away from such debates as she belongs to a 'loser khandaan'. Sonakshi, whose dialogue from her debut film, Dabangg, “Thappad se darr nahin lagta sahib, pyaar se lagta hai“ is as oft-repeated as dad Shatrughan Sinha's “Khamosh“, refused to be cowed down by the barbs flying, fast and furious, on the social networking site. Asking the trollers to get a life, she tweeted, “Welcome to twitter. Whr only trolls r allowed to have their say, yep, the only space they shud be takin up in life is the 140 chars here! And the best part is, trolls think they are relevant, while we carry on with our happy and positive lives. god bless you all!“

A day later, speaking to Mirror from Budapest, the actress insisted she was not at all upset with all the talk of cows and buffaloes. “I've grown up putting bullies in their place, that too face-to-face. Cyber bullies are cowards hiding behind a veil of anonymity, they are irrelevant,“ she dis missed, adding that none of these “psychos“ would have the guts to speak to anyone like this in person. “Forget me or any other celebrity, if they speak to anyone like this, they'll get slapped. It's best to ignore than bring yourself down to their level.“

It's surprising that she would want to challenge the BJP-supported ban given that her dad is a member of the ruling party? “My dad is the one who has taught me to stand up for what is right,“ she retorted. “Even during the elections, he always encourages us to vote for the right person irrespective of the party. I'm an apolitical person myself and prefer not to be dragged into such discussions.“

Last year, she was campaigning for animal rights, this year, she is protesting against stoppage of slaughter. What is her stand on the subject? “Where's the connection between the two here?“ she argued.“That's what most of the “trolls“ failed to see as well. One is for food, the other is just killing.“

Reasoning that you cannot impose your eating habits based on religion and politics onto others, Sonakshi pointed out that tomor row vegetarians could be expected to start eating meat during a certain festival. “I wasn't speaking up only against the meat ban, I was talking in general about a lot of things which have been banned in the recent past,“ she stated. he stated. Has auto correct caused problems for her before this? That sparks off a sharp reply, “It was sarcasm and not actually auto correct. I wasn't expecting this question.“

Several B-town celebs who have been trolled have gone off Twitter. Did she ever want to quit? “Why should I go off social media? It's my domain, I have an equal right to express my views as anyone else. I'm not one of those to back down,“ she says forcefully.“ Anyway, the experience has been more positive than negative so I don't see the reason to do so.“

Meanwhile, the dates for the Bihar elections have been announced. Starting October 12, they will happen in five phases with counting on November 8. Her dad is believed to be a strong contender for the Chief Minister's chair. Will she campaign for him? “No, he hasn't asked me to. I'm a non-political person so he doesn't expect me to,“ she says.

What's it like matching punches with John Abraham in Budapest on Force 2? “It's great working with John, I feel confident and excited,“ she avers.

Has she had to undergo any kind of special training or prep for the action scenes? Sonakshi reasons that her mixed martial arts training from her last film, Akira, will come in handy for the Force sequel. “I will be working with an amazing action team from South Africa who are clear and organised in what they want to bring to the screen. I will train with them as we shoot and learn the moves,“ she says with admirable self assurance.

Another interesting film is Apoorva Lakhia's biopic on Dawood Ibrahim's sister, Haseena Parkar. What kind of prep will that require? Sonakshi reveals that a lot of the research has already been done by the makers who have shared a lot of the material with her to help her understand the character. “I'll have to meet her daughters at some point of time to gauge the kind of person she was and understand her nuances. I will have to get the language and accent right,“ she says.

Her first TV appearance on the talent hunt show, Indian Idol Junior, fuelled speculations about a play back debut. “I wouldn't want to jump into playback without a little prep,“ Sonakshi says cautiously. “Whenever I can devote some time to it, I will. I enjoy singing as much as dancing. I definitely want to explore that"

Mumbai underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has 12 siblings. His sister Haseena Parkar, who was at the seventh position, lived at Nagpada in Mumbai, was closest to Dawood, but died in 2014 having suffered a heart attack. She has a fascinating story that is now being made into a film, that is being produced by Mubina Rattonsey and directed by Apoorva Lakhia. We have exclusively learnt that the beautiful actress Sonakshi Sinha has been finalised to play Haseena in the film, titled Haseena - The Queen of Mumbai. Confirming the news to us, Sonakshi said, “It's a great script, a powerful role, a very intriguing story and an opportunity to play a character who is the polar opposite of me. I have always wanted to be a part of a biopic and this is the perfect one. It's going to be extremely challenging for me and I am looking forward to it.“ Apoorva Lakhia said, “Haseena aapa was a very complex personality. I have just picked up the threads of her journey and knitted together the tapestry of her life. I was approached by Sameer Antulay with the idea and Mubina, Sonakshi and I are all set to bring her story alive.'' The film that will begin shooting early next year will capture 40 years of Haseena's life and is the emotional saga of a woman and what it meant to be Dawood Ibrahim's sister.