Chitrangada Singh wants to play Umrao Jaan

In an exclusive interview with Hindustantimes.com, Chitrangada Singh talks about her mentor Sudhir Misra, future projects, her dream role and more.

Not one to play the sidekick, actor Chitrangada Singh believes in being at the helm of affairs. The actress who refused to play the role eventually essayed by Kangana Ranaut in Krrish 3 stands by her decision. "I would love to play a supergirl, not a sidekick," said the actress in an exclusive interview with Hindustantimes.com.

Married to golfer Jyoti Randhawa for more than a decade now, she said marriage should not change a person. How does she balance her image as a sex symbol with her married life? "It is really about being yourself. I don’t think you can give up being who you are when you are married."

As for feminism, the actress said, "I don’t wanna burn bras, I want one! Trying to be a man is such a waste of being woman. Equality with men doesn't mean I have to be one."

Coming to the other important relationship in her life – that with her mentor and film-maker Sudhir Mishra. He gave the actor her first break in Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi in 2003. "Sudhir doesn’t judge women characters -- how virtuous or virginal she needs to be. The women characters in his films are very modern, without being western. Such roles have so much of grey and yet they don't let you look wrong. He justifies them being where they are."

Incidentally, the only film in her kitty right now is Mishra’s Pehle Aap Janab (earlier titled Mehrunnisa). "Unfortunately, Sudhir Misra’s Mehrunnisa is pushed again because of some reasons," she said. The shooting of the film was supposed to begin by August.

Chitrangada opened up about the kind of roles she is offered and those that she would wants to do. "Film-makers often typecast us in the roles that have worked. So, I mostly receive offers that are on the lines of Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi. But, I think as an actor, you want to experiment with characters and roles. Even the audience would be bored if I repeat my roles."

She further elaborated that she would love to do comedies and thrillers as these are yet unexplored genres for her.

When asked about her one role she would love to do, Chitrangada waxed eloquent about Muzaffar Ali's Umrao Jaan. "Everytime I see Umrao Jaan, I wish I could have done that film. Ali makes you smell and feel the place. If I could be that (Umrao Jaan), play that role, with Muzaffar directing the way he did, I would love it."