Athiya Shetty: Nothing wrong in taking time off to better myself

Athiya Shetty

Athiya Shetty says she took time off after her first two films to improve her craft, as she wants to be a part of movies that help her "break the mould" in Bollywood. Her latest film, Motichoor Chaknachoor, opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui is something she believes "challenged her as an actor". "I worked on myself as an actor. I did a lot of workshops. There is nothing wrong in taking time off to better myself. In this industry, you can't decide what path you want to walk on. You can't plan things. I felt I need to prove myself to be here," says Shetty.

"I had a great time working on Hero [2015] and Mubarakan [2017] but somewhere I was not fulfilled as an actor. This film gave me the opportunity to work hard and break the mould, challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone." Shetty says she looks at competition as something that makes the job fun, but does not look at what others are doing. "If you concentrate on your work, your journey becomes easy. Everybody is struggling to do their best. Today, there are different platforms and hence, work for everyone."

She plays the role of a small-town woman in the romantic comedy, which required her to go through workshops to get the body language, diction and nuances right. "I speak Bundelkhandi in the film, so, I had to get the language and accent correct. I worked for four weeks to get everything right as it has to be authentic and in sync with the film."

The story revolves around a 36-year-old jobless man Pushpender (Siddiqui) trying to find a wife and Annie (Shetty), who is looking for a husband. But she wants to settle abroad after marriage. "I said no before I said yes because I did not know if I could pull it off," she said.

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