Actress Sonia Rathee is excited to make her Bollywood debut opposite Harshvardhan Rane in John Abraham’s upcoming film 'Tara Vs Bilal'. The Free Press Journal caught up with the actress for an exclusive interaction.
Opening up about her debut, Sonia says it feels surreal. “Sometimes, I have to remind myself that this is happening. There definitely is a bit of anxiety. It happens with most of my content but especially because this is the largest project I’ve been a part of. I’m constantly questioning if my best was actually my best. I just hope my character Tara wins people’s hearts because she’s extremely special to me,” Sonia gushes.
Talking about her character and why she decided to be a part of the film, Sonia shares, “Tara is a smart, amicable, and quirky 25-year-old. She was raised by her grandfather in Delhi, and the film explores her journey as she figures her way out in a foreign country, makes unexpected friendships, and finds her independence. I did the film because the script was good, the people associated with the project were talented, and Tara was a character I really wanted to play.”
Sonia reveals that she learned Hindi for the film and had to work on the Delhi accent. “I grew up in the US in a Haryanvi household, so you can imagine how my natural accent might be. My Hindi has a bit of a Haryanvi twist to it, and my English is completely American. Other than that, playing Tara felt quite natural to me in terms of body language and emotions,” she says.
Sonia is all praise for her co-star Harshvardhan and producer John. “It was an absolute blast to work with Harshvardhan. Also, it was the first time I was getting to see him do comedy, and he nailed it. I blew some takes because I couldn’t stop laughing. On the other hand, I didn’t have much interaction with John during the filming, but I know he was sitting on the edits. He’s been so supportive and kind whenever we met,” she explains.
Not many know this, but Sonia was overweight in the past and worked extremely hard to get in shape. “I used to be 90 kgs and very self-conscious, so there wasn’t much promise there. I worked on myself, got a job at a startup in New York, took acting classes, got roles in off-broadway plays and became a full-time actress in NY first. At that time, Ankur (her brother, Ankur Rathee) had already been in Mumbai for four years. My parents were hesitant, but they believed in me, and it wasn’t so scary because I had Ankur with me,” she concludes.
