In an exclusive conversation with Filmfare, Mrunal Thakur opened up about playing the emotionally complex Pooja in her OTT release, Pooja Meri Jaan, directed by Navjot Gulati. The actor reflects on the challenges of the role, the importance of setting boundaries and why women should never feel guilty for being themselves.
Your role in Pooja Meri Jaan is so emotionally demanding. What was the biggest challenge while playing this role?
It was so challenging and I just wanted to do justice to the role because there are lot of Poojas around who are going through this issue. I just want to tell them all through this film that you need not give up on yourself. We often alter ourselves to fit in but sometimes our nice nature is interpreted wrongly and people start thinking that maybe the girl is interested. There are few girls who are kind and helpful doesn’t mean that you take it for granted. It is a very complicated and a very sensitive issue. So I am just happy that I got an opportunity to play Pooja because there are so many layers and as an actor I was very greedy and selfish to play nuanced and layered characters like this one.
What did you discover about yourself both as an actor and as a person while working on this project?
I discovered that sometimes I would go on a guilt trip thinking did I do something wrong? I used to always underestimate myself and give importance to other people’s emotions and in the process of that I would start being a little unhappy. And then I realized when you are with the right set of friends, people, you don’t have to change yourself, you have to just be you. And the right people around you will make sure that you don’t change for whatever reason. That’s what I learnt. And I am so happy I did this character, I understood so many issues, concepts and problems. I think the solution is to have a conversation. Even if you are not saying yes, it is important to understand how you convey the refusal. And if some people take certain decisions it doesn’t mean that they are bad people, they can just be wrong.
Just like your character’s personal life becomes a topic of public discussion in Pooja Meri Jaan, do you think women are judged harshly for the choices they make?
Yes, of course they are judged. As a public figure, I try to stay away from all these things because I want to be happy and I want to do my work and through my work gain name, love, fame. There is so much happening be it the floods, climate change, life is very unpredictable. So I just want people to love each other and confess love for each other every day.
Have you ever experienced one-sided love?
One-sided love story if you ask me today is with my sleep. I want to sleep but I am unable to sleep because I think a lot. But jokes apart fortunately I have not been through this but I have a lot of friends who have undergone this experience, a few of my female friends faced difficulty. In fact a few of the male friends also faced difficulty. We always look at only one point of view but there are other points of view as well. Everyone tells me that I am a feminist and that’s why I am choosing these type of roles. I am like no, I believe in equality. If something wrong is happening, regardless of someone’s gender, it is wrong.
Also Read: Exclusive: Mrunal Thakur on How Pooja Meri Jaan Deepened Her Understanding of Consent and Obsession
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: filmfare.com
