Parineeti Chopra: If I’m perfect casting for film, I don’t want to do it

Parineeti Chopra

For Parineeti Chopra, 2020 has been a year of reflection. The actor, who had headed to London last July for some much-needed me-time, says the six-month stay gave her time to assess her career and decisions. "It gave me clarity on what I wanted to do in life. More importantly, I realised what I don't want to do in life," she states.
So, what does the actor, all the wiser after the break, not want to do? In a heartbeat, she replies, "If I am the perfect casting for a film, I don't want to do it because then it would be something that people have come to expect from me. I want to do movies that you don't typically associate with me."

The realisation may have dawned upon her only last year, but Chopra had subconsciously, from 2019, started choosing stories that don't reinforce the bubbly girl image. Her upcoming release, The Girl on the Train, is a prime example. She says the Ribhu Dasgupta-directed thriller, which sees her as an alcoholic who unwittingly gets involved in a missing person case, has been an emotionally exhausting ride. "The Girl on the Train and Saina [Nehwal biopic] took everything from me. I was happy to give my all to these films because I wanted a gruelling shooting process where I feel responsible for my character. I wanted to impress my director, and not go home till I get the scene right. I wanted to do a film like The Girl… for long, but I had to pick from the offers I was getting. Once you do something on screen successfully, people think, ‘Why not cast her again?' You are stuck in that loop. I was not able to show people that I could do different roles."

The psychological thriller, based on Paula Hawkins's bestseller of the same name, is set to premiere on Netflix. "Before the pandemic, I used to think that OTT was a compromised release and a step down. But 2020 brought about a change in our mindset. Today, I have tremendous respect for streaming giants. It is the perfect home for our film where people can sit in their pyjamas and watch it on their laptops."