Divya Dutta, who recently received a National Award in the best supporting actress category for Irada, said right from the start of her career, she has followed the three Ps formula — passion, perseverance and patience.

Talking to PTI, the actress said: “You do need to be passionate about what you are doing, persevere all the time and have the patience that it’s probably not going to happen tomorrow. It might take a few years because it is an unpredictable industry.”

“For me, it has been the most unconventional career. People get their best when they begin and then they keep fading out. For me, it has been the other way around. I think I am getting my best now,” she said.

Divya started her career in 1994 with Ishq Mein Jeena Ishq Mein Marna and followed it up with a lead role in Veergati, which featured Salman Khan.

These films, however, did little for the actress and left her “disappointed”.

“Those were films where I had two songs, a few scenes. When I started, I used to look like Manisha Koirala and everyone used to give me that identity. It was like ‘There is this cute kid on the block with a good smile, give her two songs and five scenes’. I wanted to rise beyond it and do something else. That’s when Train to Pakistan (1998) happened. And then I did Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh (1999), which got a National Award. From then on, people started noticing me,” the first-time National Award winner said.

During that phase, Divya heeded her mother’s advice to take up roles in which she believed in. It eventually paid off with her bagging Veer Zaara, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji.

“I sat home post Veer Zaara for a year and then I got Delhi-6. You have to keep telling people I am not going to repeat the parts I have already played. I like to choose roles that people think I won’t be able to do,” she said.

Divya, who recently featured in the Irrfan Khan-starrer Blackmail, said though the audience had accepted her as a performer, she cannot be complacent.

“You have to keep doing different roles, keep finding yourself. You can’t sit on your laurels because then people keep giving you similar kind of roles. It is a journey to say lots of ‘no’ before you get the ‘yes’ you want,” she said. “Now, my struggle is to continue the journey of not being typecast in any box.”