Starting with a supporting role in Delhi 6 to her award winning performance in Yeh Saali Zindagi and her lead role in Murder 3, Aditi Rao Hydari’s rise in Bollywood is quite remarkable. It’s even more remarkable considering her upcoming film Boss, where she’s acting along with some of the biggest names of the industry including Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Danny Denzongpa. “It was really an overwhelming experience for me to work with such respected actors. And considering that it’s a completely male dominated cast, with me being the only female character, it felt nice to get pampered at the sets,” says Aditi who was in the city at the opening of her friend and celebrity artist Renuka Pillai’s bridal studio. Aditi and Renuka had worked together in her last film Murder 3. “My character in Boss is that of a fun loving college girl. The plot actually revolves around my character. Since the film is dominated with male characters, I believe the filmmakers wanted to bring in some freshness, some fashion and romance with someone who looks good and can act too. For me, Boss is more about romance and you’ll see me as a typical Hindi film heroine. Well, that’s as honestly as I can put it,” shares Aditi candidly. This is the first time that Aditi is working in such a big project as most of her earlier films (where she had a major role), catered to a smaller audience. “Even Murder 3 wasn’t a typical Bollywood masala film despite the fact that it is one of the biggest franchises in the industry today. The franchise relies on the story more than other entertainment elements. And in fact, even though Murder 1 and Murder 2 had aspects of erotica, Murder 3 was completely different. It was more women centric and depicted the spirit of today’s modern girl who can make her own choices. It aimed at internationalising the franchise and very much did so,” feels Aditi. She feels that it’s easier to work with people with similar attitude and those you can easily bond with. She looks forward to work with actors such as Sushant Singh Rajput, Ayushman Khurana and Arjun Kapoor. “And who doesn’t want to work with legends like Shah Rukh and Amir I am getting an opportunity to work with Akshay in my next film and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to act with other superstars soon,” she says. When asked about her preference between purely entertainment cinema and the story driven independent cinema, she says, “I feel it’s important for an actor to take both journeys. There’s one where you explore a character, plot and delve into deeper aspects of acting. There’s the other one that reaches out to a wider audience, and is a lot of fun and is light hearted. I came here as an actor and I believe acting is what will sustain for me. But at the same, actors strive for appreciation. And more the number of people who watch your film, more appreciation you get for your work. So I want to do both kind of films and I believe that I have the ability to do that.” She continues, “Also in today’s world, you have to understand that the distinction is not based on budget of the film anymore. Either a film is good or it’s bad. Unlike earlier, film budget is no more an issue as big as it used to be.”
