How did Shivaay happen to you
I was cast for the film back in my hometown, Warsaw. I had heard they were looking all over Europe to cast their leading lady. I was surprised to know that several popular Polish actresses had tried their luck too. One of them I had met in the dressing room and I was rather surprised to see her. At that time I had no idea how the film would turn out. I was asked to prepare the Hindi dialogues that were written in English. They assured me not to panic, as no one who was competing for the role knew Hindi. I did my research, as I always do. I worked hard and didn’t let it go. I kept rehearsing. I was so nervous that I wrote all my lines on my palm.
So you finally did manage to speak in Hindi My entire character is portrayed in Hindi. She is a girl who has lived in India for a long time and hence speaks fluent Hindi.
Did Ajay Devgn teach you Hindi Well, he teased me a lot for my Hindi but he was too occupied on the sets, of course. I had a Hindi tutor, a dialect coach and a guy who used to revise lines with me because I not only had to learn Hindi but also had to listen to what other characters were saying. I had to learn all the words and their meanings. I used to do a lot of speech exercises. I had to do my homework on the long sentences so that they would remain in my mind forever. When the camera is on, there is no time to think what your co-actor just said. I even needed to change my English accent.
What were your thoughts while performing the action stunts in Bulgaria When I was in the mountains of Mussoorie, I had a body double but we didn’t really use her then. My character is supposed to be really scary but I was laughing away during a few scenes — it was fun, these adventures. Ajay does all his stunts by himself but I used a body double for a few stunts in Bulgaria. I had a professional climber in the scene shown in the trailer. But I did many scenes by myself too.
Are you Ajay’s love interest in the film What I know from Ajay and the producers is that I am the leading lady and I am the one who is in love with Shivaay and vice versa. I can’t tell you much about it since I am not allowed to.
How was your experience working with Ajay and other co-stars I have learned a lot from Ajay while shooting. He wasn’t starry at all; rather he was humble, silent, focussed and super hardworking. He was like a father to the 100 people on the sets. He used to ask me to watch the scenes on the monitor and analyse the scenes. After pack-up, I would hit the gym and then would be off to sleep for eight hours, Ajay would stay back and plan the shoot for the next day.
Have you watched a Bollywood film The makers had asked me not to watch any film. Also, Bollywood not being popular in Polland, I have not managed to see any Bollywood film. In Poland, they think Bollywood is only Slumdog Millionaire. So there is a lack of knowledge. I have seen few clips from Bajirao Mastani. I heard about festivals like Holi. And, Bollywood films are visually so rich and colourful.
Would you love to romance any Bollywood actor I would love to romance everyone I guess. (Laughs). I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to keep working here and have more characters to portray which are not Indian. I don’t want to predict anything. I want people to see my work in Shivaay first. Then say, if Shah Rukh Khan loves my work, he might call me to work with him.
Tell us a little about your journey before Shivaay happened. Shivaay is my first big movie. Prior to that I worked in a BBC mini series, which had five episodes and it, went off really well. People around me were happy for me. I bagged Shivaay even before the BBC series was aired. I have also done two Polish TV series.
