Rakul Preet Singh On Dealing With Failure Of Her Movies: Box Office Is Not In My Control, So, Why Should I Get Stressed About It

Actress Rakul Preet Singh has a body of work be it in South industries or Bollywood. She has given some successful films in her career. Recently, she was seen in the bilingual movie 'Boo' that released on Jio Cinema. It is a spine-chilling thriller that Rakul has never explored before. Post its release, Garima Das of Outlook had a freewheeling conversation with the 'Yaariyan' actress where she opened up on the movie, dealing with failures, South-North debate, and a lot more. 

Excerpts from the interview:

'Boo' is a genre you haven't explored before right? So, did you choose it because you wanted to do something different? 

It is something which I haven't done before. When the film came to me, we all were in the pandemic. Vijay sir called me..he has made this story shot in one house with all girls. It is a story about one night and it's an experimental film and he asked me what I think. So, I like to take risks. I haven't done something like this and it doesn't require so much time from me and anyway, we were in lockdown. So I thought why not do it? It's going to be something different and we all wanted to work. So, we came together and did this film in the lockdown in one house and that's how it happened. 

Do you believe in ghosts? 

No, I don't have an opinion on it as in I don't believe or disregard it. I just believe that if you believe in God then you only see the goodness. 

Any spooky incident you can recall that happened to you in real life or while shooting did you face any such thing?

I have never experienced such things and I would like to keep it like that. I don't want to experience anything and I am glad that I didn't have any of these experiences. When we were shooting, we obviously knew that we were making a film. So, it doesn't matter. 

This is the genre you have explored for the first time. Were there any challenges as to how to get into the skin of the character or any prep?

No, it's not a challenge. I don't like the word 'challenge'. I feel that is the exciting part of our profession and being an actor you like that creativity to do something different. So, it's not a challenge. That's the fun for me and for any role how I approach it is that I am more of an intuitive actor. If there is a certain craft that you need to learn for the role then of course you learn that. How I operate is I make a character sketch of the character that I am playing like this is how she gets angry, this is how she reacts because not every character is going to react the same way and then I play within that playground.

Now, as you have explored this genre, so in the future are you ready to explore more movies of this genre?

Of course, if I like a script then why not. 

Any other genre you want to be part of that you haven't done earlier?

I haven't done many. I haven't done an out-and-out love story. I want to do something like an 'Aashiqui', 'DDLJ'. I haven't done a historical film. I want to do a historical film, a biopic, action so many things. 

When a film doesn't work, how do you process failures? Do you sit and think where it went wrong or move on?

Failure is a part of life. Only if you work you will get failure and if you don't work and sitting at home, you will never see failure. So, what makes you stronger is your failure and I don't think..like you said 'Chhatriwali' got a lot of good responses. So, I don't think that was a failure. The movie trended for the longest time on Zee5. The team is very happy and we got so many messages that it actually helped girls to speak up. And 'Doctor G' on the contrary got great reviews. It was very unfortunate that it didn't do well at the box office. But like I said, theatrical is not in my control or box office is not just dependent.. I mean every film last year didn't do well as they were expected to. But there are too many other factors for that, right? As I have said, I personally feel after the pandemic who had no salaries and were laid off had to struggle during the pandemic of two years how can they afford to go to theatres every week when it's so expensive? In the south in every state, there is a cap on the theatre cost. People can only choose to watch only one movie in a month because nowadays theatres are also not cheap. That doesn't take away the fact whether your film is good or bad. So, for me, I only look at it as did people appreciate my film, did they appreciate my role and that's the only thing that is under my control. Beyond my role, there is nothing in my control. So, why should I get stressed about anything that is not in my control and that never will be. 

Is there anything coming your way for the OTT format? 

I am open to it. I would love to do a long format but it has to be really like kickass and it has to be something that I haven't done before. If something very exciting comes my way, I would love to do it.