Mrunal Thakur will soon be seen with Aditya Roy Kapur in Vardhan Ketkar’s directorial venture Gumraah. In the thriller, Mrunal plays a cop, which is a first for her acting career. The film also stars Ronit Roy and Vedika Pinto. Gumraah will hit the silver screens on April 7. The Free Press Journal caught up with Mrunal for an exclusive conversation. Excerpts:
How challenging is it for you to leave your glossy roles and pick up a de-glam role in Gumraah?
When I started my career, I wanted to take the unconventional route with the kind of roles and stories I choose. With Gumraah, it was more challenging since I played myself in my previous roles like Sita Ramam (2022). I never played a character who is at a job. There’s a certain language, decorum and body type you need to know for such roles.
Go on…
Human drama is my forte. My strength as an actor is to express emotions but when it comes to Shivani, it is totally the opposite. She is totally invested in the murder mystery set in the film. I would say Gumraah is a nice family thriller. Drishyam was the reason that I was sold to do Gumraah. With this film, I wanted to take the risk in my career to understand how this genre feels.
Why were you sceptical about doing thrillers so far?
I did come with an agenda of not doing Gumraah when I first came for its narration. I thought since it’s an adaptation of some movie and I haven’t watched it till date, I believed in the plot. Imagine, it is so interesting to see two lookalikes and they both are suspects in one murder.
As an actor, does it upset you when casting directors put actors in a bracket and typecast them?
It doesn’t upset me but I appreciate when I meet casting directors who think out-of-the-box. I rather hunt for people who see me in a different way. I don’t want to invest my energy in getting upset.
Tell us one female cop role that you admire?
Actually, Tabu has been an icon and so is Rani (Mukerji) ma’am. They both are an inspiration. I hope I can live up to the expectations of people. Even these actresses didn’t get such kind of opportunities early in their careers. I am happy to do those strong roles right now which they are doing at the moment too. Even Shefali Shah is so good in the Delhi Crime (2019) franchise. I took inspiration from all of them while prepping for Shivani.
Do current box office numbers bother you in any way?
My only concern is that people only see the Rs 100 crores collection but they fail to see the cost of production. If my movie budget is Rs 20 crores and it makes Rs 100 crores, it’s in profit. It is a hit and a commercial success but if it has been made for Rs 90 crores, it isn’t. A good film, a critically acclaimed film, a commercial film and a super blockbuster film, all are four different things. It’s all jumbled up.
