Exclusive Interview: Kriti Sanon aka 'Bitti' on all things 'Bareilly Ki Barfi' and more...

The world seems a little more colourful when Kriti Sanon enters a room with her unmistakable, cheerful smile. She's been caught up with a lot of promotional activities for her upcoming release titled Bareilly Ki Barfi in which she plays the protagonist Bitti. Still, there's not even the slightest sign of fatigue on her face as she sits down and sips her coffee for the Nth interview on a rainy evening.

Here's part one of an exclusive conversation with Kriti on all things Bareilly Ki Barfi and more. Excerpts:

What are the things you keep in mind when you take up a project?

I am very instinctive when it comes to deciding whether I want to do a film or not. When I'm hearing or reading the script, my first reaction is to the script is as an audience. Whether I would as an audience, want to watch that film or not because no matter how good your character is in the film, if the script doesn't connect with the audience, it doesn't matter what you've done. The main thing is to be a part of good scripts to tell good stories. Then it comes down to  your character - how interesting it is or how exciting it is for you or if it's something that you've not done before and you would want to explore. Sometimes, it might be, that there are certain people attached with the film who I would love to work with in general or want to get the experience of working with them purely as an actor. It's not been (the case) till now but it might be.

How important it is for you to know who your co-star is? Does it matter at all?

Before I start the film, I would love to know who they are (chuckles). But apart from that, if the other criteria(s) match, if I'm confident about the script, I like the character that I'm playing, and I'm confident of the director to pull off the script, then it doesn't matter. 

You've worked with Rajkummar Rao before in Raabta but you're working with Ayushmann Khurrana for the first time...

Yes, I did like one or two scenes with him (Rajkummar) in Raabta before I shot with him for Bareilly Ki Barfi. But Bareilly Ki Barfi is the proper one. Before, I couldn't even recognise it was Rajkummar (in Raabta) so it didn't feel like it was him. 

Is there any difference that you observed between them in terms of how they approach a scene?

Difference? That's very tricky! I think they come from a similar school, from what I could gauge. Both of them have done theatre and they have done films in this space of cinema. I can't find a difference between them...

Similarity?

Both of them are very focussed and they both always try to better their performance and add a little more to it. And I think both of them are very collaborative. We've also had many scenes where all three of us are together. There are times when three, four, five people are together, so it's a lot about rehearsing and shooting your ideas and discussing amongst yourselves what works, reacting to each other. So one more thing about them is that they're very reactive. They're very good at give-and-take because they are such good actors. If you do something which is not in the script and it comes out naturally, you know they are actors who would react to it. 

Your character Bitti does break dance in the film, did you go through any training for that?

No, I didn't go through training but I watched a few videos. So with Bitti also, the thing is that she's not gone through training. She's just a naturally good dancer. She's someone who likes watching videos and copying them. So because she copies videos, it's break dance but it's not authentic. It's almost like Bareilly ka break dance like desi Chinese.

Which one's your favourite song from the movie and why?

It's very tricky (giggles). All the songs are really different. May be Twist Kamariya because it's the track that has got on to me first and it's come out recently so I've only been listening to that. Also, it is one song that has a lot of Bitti's character in it. It is the song that comes a little initially in the film. She's a girl, jiske bina Bareilly ka koi bhi sangeet nahi hota hai. So it's that kind of song where she gets life into everyone's celebrations. The initial swag of hers, it was Ashwiny (Iyer Tiwari)'s idea to to add that sweatshirt with the layers on it and it was my idea to add the converse with the embroidery on it. So Bitti gets established with this song and also I think Bosco (Martis) has one a fab job because I could have never thought of adding an MJ kind of step in a song like Twist Kamariya, so that is also very Bitti. 

If you were to play one of the guys in the film, who would you choose to play and why?

Rajkummar Rao's character - Pritam Vidrohi. He has the best character in the film I would say, purely because it has such a range for an actor to play a character like that. It's two extremes. It's almost like playing two characters in a film. So he's actually a very meek, scared, what we call fattu, kind of a guy who sells sarees, but he is made to act like a really mawali gunda who can be scary. So that character I'm sure the audience is really going to love and it's hilarious, the way he slips in and out of it in some scenes, because you can't fake it for too long. So that's something which is very interesting and I would love to play that.

What after Bareilly Ki Barfi?

There is a film that I have said yes to. I haven't officially signed but I've said yes to it. It should be announced soon. I always prefer it coming from the production. I think it's their right to be announcing their film. Apart from that, there are two scripts that I've heard and I might sign one of them depending on my dates.

(Watch this space for part two of the interview where Kriti Sanon speaks about celebrities being under pressure to be in the know how of everything that happens around them, how she deals with the rumours about her personal life and more...)