Mrunal Thakur, who will soon be seen opposite Shahid Kapoor in Jersey, is a simple person at heart. “I am quite gullible. If any salesman comes and sells me something expensive, I will buy it,” she says. But then no filmmaker has been able to sell a bad story to her. If one looks at her filmography and her journey from Sonia (Love Sonia) to Vidya (Jersey), passing through Supriya (Super 30), Nandita (Batla House), Ira (Ghost Stories), Ananya (Toofaan) and Soumya (Dhamaka).
“I have to live a story for 100 days while buying something takes a fraction of a minute or seconds, and they can convince me in that time. Thank God, I don’t do that with my films,” adds Mrunal who is also a Bollywood’ keeda’ by heart. “Babumoshai, zindagi lambi nahin badi honi chahiye,” she trails off into the classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee line from Anand, clearly meaning that her roles need to have an impact or else she is not going to be a part of any film.
“My characters started with someone who was a victim and was naïve and vulnerable in Sonia, grew up in Super 30 as Supriya and became very firm and feisty as Nandita, to Ananya who believes in humanity to Soumya who is very passionate about her work – journalism to Vidya who is very practical and believes that she can't live through her heart all the time and have to take decisions from her mind as well. My characters have only grown,” Mrunal explains.
The actress had shot to fame as Bulbul in the TV drama Kumkum Bhagya a few years ago. so, has the bulbul taken flight? “The bulbul took flight long ago. Now she is soaring well,” chuckles Mrunal. She has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry so far.
“I cannot tell you how enchanting this journey has been. I was surviving earlier, and now I am living. I am working with the actors with whom I had dreamt of working. I am working opposite actors like Shahid, Hrithik (Roshan), John (Abraham) and Kartik Aaryan. The first three are very special because when I was in the 6th or 7th grade, I would have cutouts of these actors and keep them in the textbooks with my sister. My dad used to reprimand us for that. He would tell us to concentrate on studies and not on films. We did not have cable television in our houses. We used to go to our neighbours’ house to watch anything interesting. And now it is a manifestation of that passion for films,” she shares.
Opening up about her role in Jersey Mrunal says, “Vidya is a mother first, but she is not just a mother to Kittu (child actor) but to her husband Arjun (Shahid) as well. Vidya is always expecting something from him – not a diamond or a bungalow but the appreciation which she never gets. She is taking care of the house financially as well as the child.”
Elaborating further, she says, “Why does a relationship fade away when one person stops making efforts? She wants it to work. She wants Arjun to be a good father. But sometimes, they seem unreasonable because of his dreams. I have never done such a role before. I am naïve, vulnerable and angry at the same time in the trailer. In real life, I am neither someone who gets so agitated. I do not have a child and am not married. I have no idea how to run a family. But then I have become a better human.”
Having played the title role in Love Sonia, is she longing for one more? “Yes, I want it again. It is obviously every actor’s dream to perform such roles. I am hungry for such characters. I don’t mind waiting. I have some great scripts coming, but I am unable to resonate with them. I need to be able to learn and take off. I need a unique film which has to be known as a cult movie. It is my desire to perform something out of the box. Maybe filmmakers who are reading this article will say we have a script but, we don’t think you can do it. That is one role I want to do,” she exclaims with confidence.
Before taking her leave we couldn’t resist asking Mrunal if anyone has told her, ‘Yeh haath, mujhe dede Thakur!’ “It has happened so many times. Right from my childhood, people have made fun of my surname,” she laughs and signs off.
