Exclusive! Aiyaary Actress Rakul Preet Singh: My First Audition In My Life Was For Neeraj Pandey

After getting stuck with the CBFC and release dates, Rakul Preet Singh’s Aiyaary is finally set for a release tomorrow. Aiyaary also stars Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee and Anupam Kher. The film is directed by ace filmmaker Neeraj Pandey.

Rakul Preet is one of the most successful actresses down there in South. She made her Bollywood debut with Divya Khosla Kumar’s Yaariyan. And now after a break, Rakul Preet is all set to make a comeback in Bollywood with Aiyaary.

Recently, KoiMoi.com got chatty with the beautiful Rakul Preet for a quick interview where she shared her experiences of shooting with Neeraj Pandey, her social causes, Aiyaary and much more!

Excerpt from the interview:

Working in a Neeraj Pandey film is a dream of every actor and he is definitely on everybody’s wish list. So how was the feeling when you were approached for Aiyaary?

So actually, it is really funny that my first audition in my life was for Neeraj Pandey sir when I had just moved to Bombay and it was before Yaariyan. At that time, I was just 21-22 and I was clueless about what is happening. This was post A Wednesday and Special 26 was not made yet. But that film never happened. Later, his casting guy called me up for Dhoni, by then I was working in South. He called me for Dhoni and I had signed the film too but then there was a change in their schedule, and I was shooting for another film and I couldn’t adjust the dates, so I had to call it off. Unfortunately! Then again, his casting guy called me and he was like if I have the dates or no! I went and met sir, and he was always on my wish list. He is one of the finest directors that we have in our country today with some great content base cinema. So yes, I was onboard and I was quite excited for it.

Rakul, we last saw you in Yaariyaan and then you moved back to South films. What made you choose Aiyaary as a sort of comeback film?

See I wouldn’t call it a comeback because it wasn’t like I was sitting at home. I worked at a pace faster than anyone else. But it wasn’t intentional, it was just that I finished shooting for Yaariyan and then after 2 days I started shooting for my first film in Telugu. Yaariyan was released after a year and by then I had already done 2-3 films, and my first film became a hit. Then I realised that it is better to be a star at one place rather than being a struggler in other.

You know Neeraj Pandey is a master sketcher when it comes to his characters. From the major leads to the minor ones, he depicts every character with brilliance. How was the experience of working with him and how different was his style of working from other directors?

I wouldn’t say different. I think everyone has their own style of working but I think what I really liked about Neeraj sir is that he’s got a lot of clarity. He does his homework so well that you don’t have any troubles on set. The way he explains things, the freedom that he gives…I think that gets the best performances out. He knows how to get work done. He is a very intelligent person basically. So, working with an intelligent human being, it makes you learn a lot, and you improve. So that whole journey was nice!

If you have to imbibe any trait from your character, what would that be?

I don’t know. My character is a software expert. If without studying anything I can learn all of that, then maybe that.

Most actors say that public review doesn’t matter to them anymore as today everyone has become a critic. So do you feel the same?

It’s much bigger in that, you know. You do a film believing in a script and then if it works or not, it is not in your hand. So how you don’t get affected is if the film has not got a good response then you have to at some point cut off and then move on and think about what’s next. So the fate of the film is never in your hand. So I am also personally someone who doesn’t hang on to or keep too much expectation. I am someone that neither a success film makes me too happy nor not a failure will make me too disappointed.

Talking about your social causes, you are a brand ambassador of Beti Bachao. And you are also into gym business. So how do you manage that with your busy schedule?

I think I do it because I like it. It is not a responsibility that’s been put on me. If you enjoy your work and if you want to do something, you will always find time to do it.

Lastly, what’s next in the pipeline?

An untitled project with Ajay Devgn and I am doing two films in Tamil and one film in Telugu.