She’s just done just two films (Cocktail and Happy Bhag Jayegi) in five years, but Diana Penty isn’t losing any sleep over her filmography. The fact that she has two very interesting big -ticket films — Lucknow Central this weekend and Parmanu (with John Abraham) in December — ready for release might have something to do with it. t2 met the leggy model-turned-actress in her trailer in Mumbai’s Mehboob Studio over the weekend to chat about Lucknow Central. The film, that has her paired opposite Farhan Akhtar, is based on a true event. Over a cuppa of kadak chai (“I like my chai as kadak as possible. The key is very little milk,” she says), we chatted about her films and her co-stars.

Congratulatons! You’ve gone from one film in four years to two in one year. So has that been fun?

(Laughs) It has. Isn’t that a step in the right direction, though? I am making up for lost time. Now that I’ve got the momentum going, I don’t want it to stop at all. It’s definitely been different. I’m still one of those that wants to do one film at a time, I can’t multitask and play three different characters on different days. But it’s exciting. It so turned out that I read both scripts and I liked them and both happened to be true stories, both happened to be releasing this year. It was purely a coincidence. But yeah, I’m happy, and I hope next year’s as productive.

What was it about Lucknow Central that caught your attention?

Definitely the story. It was such a heartwarming, inspiring story based on true events. Again, that was something that got me even more excited because this was something that actually happened and I wanted to know more about it. The backstory is even more interesting. Ranjit (Tiwari, the film’s director) came across a newspaper article a couple of years ago based on these guys in this jail in Lucknow who came together to form a band for their reformation and they did really well for themselves. They got really popular, started getting special permission to perform outside of jail and come back after that. So he thought it was quite intriguing which it was. And he decided to make this into a film.

When Ranjit narrated it to me, it was the perfect script — I didn’t want anything about it to change. That doesn’t happen very often. Secondly, it also gave me the chance to play this different character in my third film itself. I’ve played Meera (in Cocktail) who’s the typical, homely, shy, demure girl. And then I played Happy (Happy Bhag Jayegi) who was loud, bubbly and crazy. And this gave me the chance to play this very measured, balanced, mature girl who has a mind of her own, very strong-willed and persistent. She’s all about fighting for the rights of these prisoners. She believes in reformation, in second chances, and that people should be allowed to lead normal lives after they’re out of jail. She also believes that while they’re in jail, they have certain basic human rights. She’s a strong woman in a predominantly male set-up, dealing with the inmates, jail authorities, law enforcement, cops and others.

Apart from you and Farhan, this film has an incredible supporting cast…

One of the most special things about this film is that it’s the coming together of some of the most talented people in this industry. To have Farhan, Ronit Roy, Deepak Dobriyal, Inaamulhaq, Rajesh Sharma... all in the same film! I’ve always watched their stuff and they’re all such powerhouses in their own right. So it was intimidating because I was the juniormost and most inexperienced actor among them! (Laughs)

There was a certain part of me that was worried whether they would judge my performance, whether I’d be able to live up to the levels expected of me. But it was a way more positive experience than anything else. And there’s so much to take away just to be in the same scenes as these guys, to be able to perform alongside them. Because they’re as good as they are, it just brings out the best in you since you’re reacting off them as well.

It was fairly well known that they had signed somebody else. Did that play on your mind?

Not really. I feel like there’s a place and time for everything, and everything works out the way it’s meant to. It doesn’t really bother me. I was actually grateful for the fact that I was eventually able to do this film.

What was Farhan like as a co-star?

He’s extremely professional when it comes to his work and he always comes very well prepared. He gives preparation a lot of importance, which is not very common. There are a lot of people that don’t read the script as many times or are that familiar with the script or come on the set and start learning their lines. But Farhan comes on the set completely prepared — he knows his lines, he knows exactly what we’re doing that day. So everything moves really quickly. It’s a nice environment to be in because everything is very professional and it automatically helps the other person who’s in the same scene. You’re acting off that energy.

You’ve worked with Saif Ali Khan, Farhan Akhtar and John Abraham. If you had to pick what you learnt from observing each one of them, what would it be?

Saif, I felt, was very good with improv (improvisation). He comes into a scene and you have no idea what to expect. With each take, he’ll do something different. I used to be in awe of that... how can you think of something so drastically different and yet be funny at the same time?! At the end of the scene, he’d pull out a line that was nowhere in the script, and would be so funny that it actually worked. Farhan, I’ve known has always been a very good actor but I actually got to experience that first-hand on set. The most special thing about him is that he’s a very subtle, underplayed, real actor. John has great energy — he’s always fun, he’s always pulling somebody’s leg on set, he’s always cracking jokes. As a result, the entire environment on set is a happy one. That also rubs off on one’s performances.

Tell us something about Parmanu...

Parmanu releases on December 8. It is based on the 1998 nuclear tests. I think it’s a very important film and story to be told. All of us have a general idea of what happened back then, but we don’t have the details of how the mission was undertaken. A lot of it I learnt along the way, reading the script. Abhishek Sharma is a fabulous director and the script is well written. When I was reading it, I remember turning the pages faster and faster to know what’s happening. So it’s thrilling in a way.

Karishma Upadhyay