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•Priyanka Sinha: Nobody cries as well as you do. How do you do it?

I’ll tell you a very interesting story: my brother makes fun of me whenever I cry. He’s been calling me a tap since I was born. Whenever he used to irritate me, I used to go waaaaa. He was after me from the beginning — he was so jealous of me. One day, he picked me up from the cot and was about to throw me on the floor when my mother entered the room — in true filmi style — and said, ‘Raja! Nahin! Rani ko chod do!’ So he put me back on the cot. I think the story of my crying starts from there.

More seriously, I think, I enjoy playing roles where I get to cry. I like crying. But in my latest film, Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, I have broken that mould, because my character is that of an angel and angels don’t cry. God has made angels so full of love that they only spread happiness. My character doesn’t know what a tear is, what sadness or sorrow is. She actually takes Saif’s teardrop and is intrigued by it. She wants to cry, she wants to feel like humans do. You’ll have to watch the movie to see if she cries or not in the film.

•Harneet Singh: Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic is your third film with Saif Ali Khan. Has he grown as an actor?

He is a great actor and has, of course, also grown as an actor. Saif and I respect each other as actors; we respect each other as individuals; we have a great rapport and that helps us improve our performances. At times, you have co-actors who are not interested in helping you or who are not interested in giving another take. But when you have an actor you are comfortable with and when the other actor understands your work ethics, you can surely improve. Saif makes it really easy for me.

•Harneet Singh: We don’t get to see you in too many films these days. Have you become very selective about the projects you take on?

We actors are like beggars. We wait for a good role to fall into our laps. We really can’t choose. Even Black was not chosen by me, it was given to me by Sanjay Leela Bhansali who came up with the idea and decided to make the film. I did not get up one fine morning and decided, ‘Okay, I’ll play Michelle in Black’. I have to wait for an opportunity to come my way.

•YP Rajesh: Was it tough playing a deaf and visually challenged character?

When I heard the script, I wasn’t confident. I asked Sanjay innumerable times, ‘Are you sure you want to take me?’ Sanjay said, ‘Rani, only you can do it, I can’t see anyone else doing it’. It was a world I hadn’t experienced before. For the first time, I met people who were deaf, mute and visually challenged. We are so busy with what we are doing that we hardly have the time or get the opportunity to spend time with such people. Through Black, I had the opportunity to understand what kind of life they live, what they think, how they interact with people. Their life is very different from ours.

•YP Rajesh: Did playing that role have any impact on you as a person?

Yes, I have become a stronger person. When I saw their spirit, I realised that I have been blessed by God because I can see, I can talk, I can hear. Imagine not having any of these and yet, learning to be happy. I understood that there is nothing impossible in the world. If you really want to do something or achieve something, you can do it. Some of the people I observed for the role, could actually type on a normal computer.

•Suparna Nayak: Did the role drain your emotions?

When I was going through my practice sessions and learning the sign language, I had to use my hands a lot more than usual and it was definitely tiring. In our daily lives, we don’t use our hands to that extent. For such people, however, their communication is through their fingers and hands. So, when I started learning the sign language, my arms used to hurt. However, by the time the shooting started, I had kind of learnt the language and it wasn’t so tough anymore. Also, Sanjay is a fantastic director to work with, he infuses so much energy into his actors. He keeps the entire mood on the sets so jovial, and never pressurises us for anything.

•Priyanka Sinha: Are you a method actor?

I think I am spontaneous. But you need method in films like Black. Actually, you need both method and spontaneity. The way you portray a character could be methodical, but you also need to be spontaneous in your approach.

•Harneet Singh: When you read something about yourself in tabloids, does it affect you?

Nowadays, journalism is getting a little out of hand. Young people who are getting into the field are spoiling it. They believe in only talking nonsense and fabricating stories. And they use a word — ‘source’; every story has a ‘source’. Who is this ‘source’? Or, they’ll attribute remarks to a ‘close friend’. Who are these ‘close friends’? These journalists cook up a story and then add these words to it.

•Harneet Singh: Does that bother you?

I would be lying if I say that it doesn’t bother me. When something wrong is written about you, it does bother you because a certain section of people would obviously believe what is being written. I would choose not to believe it, my parents will not believe it, but an average person would believe it. What can you do about it? You can’t go around suing people.

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