Rao is raring to go

What is your upcoming film, London, Paris, New York about?
It’s a love story around two contrasting personalities, but who have a very deep connection and how they meet and part. Basically, the three cities bring out certain emotions and a journey…

Anything particularly memorable during the shoots in the cities?
This is from the shoot in Paris. I reached the location at 7:30am and it was freezing. The costume supervisor covered me with a white blanket and I was covered from my neck down to my toes. I couldn’t move because I was wrapped like an Egyptian mummy. In Paris, there is this area called Monarch where people dress up as various characters and pose like a statue. So people thought that I was one of those and they started clicking me. I had become a tourist attraction there! The whole crew had a good laugh. It was one of the most hilarious moments.

How did Yeh Saali Zindagi (YSZ) come your way?
Sudhir (Mishra) sir asked me to audition for it. However, I wasn’t in town when I was called. When I got back and contacted them again, they said they have got somebody to do the role. I was crestfallen since I wanted to work with him very badly. After three days, I got a call to audition for the same role. I went to Shanoo Sharma (the casting director) for the audition and that very evening I was sitting in Sudhir sir’s office.

Sudhir Mishra is known to be quite a hard task master. How was your experience working with him?
I think he is fabulous. Hard task masters are good because they dig out the best in you, they make you work hard, and I love working hard. On the sets, you would see him running around and you’d feel energised just by looking at him. When the work is good and you are in good hands, especially with somebody like Sudhir sir for captain of the ship, it’s a beautiful experience.

Tell us about your first day in front of the camera.

The first day was in Chandni Chowk and we were shooting with live audience. I had to sit on a cycle rickshaw. The place was crowded; full of traffic; people staring; cameras; phone cameras… It was crazy.

Being from a non-filmy background, was it tough to get noticed?
You can’t say somebody’s struggle is greater or lesser. People feel that if you belong to the film fraternity, your life would be easier. Yes, you get a break more easily because people know you, but then you have to struggle to prove yourself. Our struggle is more like – ‘Hello we exist (giggles)! Please give us a chance!’ What was difficult for me was to convince people about my acting. My struggle was to prove that I have it in me to do all kinds of roles.

Your intimate scene in YSZ was much spoken about. Did you have any hesitations about doing it?
Of course! I had stepped back, wondered and hoped that I could pull it off. According to me, one should have a great amount of trust and belief in the director; for me it was Sudhir Mishra and Imtiaz Ali (Rockstar) and now Anu Menon (London, Paris, New York). In YSZ, the scene was very passionate and intense. People talked about it before the film’s release, but once the film came out, it didn’t quite stand out because the scene was woven into the script such that it didn’t really grab eye balls. In London, Paris, New York, the intimate scenes are very natural, young, fresh and innocent. And it is my profession – I’m acting – so it’s not very tough.