Shikha Talsania describes the cast of Veere Di Wedding as “fierce, independent, loyal, warm, accepting and supremely talented”. The actress, who is best known for playing Ranbir Kapoor’s friend in Wake Up Sid, will soon be seen as the fourth wheel in Veere Di Wedding. As her hairdresser tonged her hair to perfection in a room at the Sun ’n’ Sand Hotel in Mumbai recently, the actress talked about her new film, learning from her co-stars and being plus-size in an industry obsessed with being thin.   

Did all four of you immediately gel?

Yeah, we really did. For people who have so much experience behind them, they were really warm and off the bat, we got along really well. There’s a sort of magic that only happens when you meet certain people... I think that happened with us. 

Did you know any of the others from before?

I know Rhea (Kapoor, producer) because she was on Wake Up Sid, and that’s where I’d met Sonam as well. I’ve met Kareena (Kapoor Khan) a few times at Soha’s (Ali Khan) place because she’s a really good friend of mine. I’d never met Swara (Bhasker) but we’d heard of each other because she’s worked with a lot of friends of mine. The complete stranger for me was Shashanka (Ghosh, director) and I think I fell in love with him instantaneously... he’s like my kindred spirit. 

What’s your overriding memory of the film? 

Fun, just fun. For me, there was a lot of stuff that I was doing for the first time ever. I had never danced to a choreographed number before, or lip-synced to it. And I was thrilled because it’s something I’ve wanted to do forever. As an actor, there are so many things on your checklist and this was one of them. The thing that kept astounding and impressing me was Rhea Kapoor herself... she’s such a fantastic producer. I saw a completely different side of her this time around, and she’s so fierce. With the amount of stuff on her plate, she just kept slaying everything. I’m in awe of her and through the film, my fangirl moments just kept doubling.

Fashion is a huge component of the film. Did you enjoy that aspect of Veere Di Wedding?

People talk about the process of what an actor does to get into character and for me whether it’s stage, a digital film or a movie, the clothes are really important. So my reactions weren’t, ‘Oh, the clothes are going to be fabulous!’ For me, it was more to do with what would work for Meera’s character. 

Your first film was in 2009. Happy with how your career has progressed?

Very happy. I’ve met some wonderful people along the way and have done some very interesting projects. When I got out of college, the first thing I told my parents was that I wanted to pursue acting, and both of them (Tiku and Dipti Talsania) being actors, knew what the life of an actor is. They just wanted me to explore my options. So I did television production for a while and really enjoyed it too. A friend of mine was assisting Nandini Shrikent and then I got the call to go audition for Wake Up Sid. I got that part, and remember it being 
October 9, just after my birthday, when we started shooting. I thanked god because I was finally where I was supposed to be... it was a beautiful moment. So I’m really, really happy where I am — it’s been difficult, there’s been a lot of existential angst but it’s all part and parcel of the profession. 

The industry is known to propagate a certain body type, and that trickles down, in most cases, to the characters in a film, especially with actresses. Did the existential angst stem from that?

At one point, I was only getting these stereotypical fat-girl roles, the horny or the hungry. I found myself asking myself whether that was all I was going to get. But I have worked really hard at being selective, and the reason I haven’t worked continuously is because I’ve rejected a lot of that kind of work. So, it is tough but there is hope because the industry is changing with the kinds of scripts and parts changing... there’s a lot more awareness now. 

I would like to believe that your skill set and what you bring to the table supersedes all of that. The fact that I’m part of a film like this speaks volumes about the kind of awareness we have. Even with Midnight’s Children, I played the part of Alia, the elder sister, and there was just one line in the book that said, ‘She’s a little on the larger side’. I got cast for that and I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun I had on that because it was such a wonderful, validating experience, because there are so many more layers to that character. 

But you did have to lose weight for Veere Di Wedding.

Yeah, but it’s not like I had to completely change how I look. Also, it’s all a part of being an actor — you change your hair, get prosthetics done. So, I really enjoyed losing some weight for this role, partly because I also wanted to get fitter. I didn’t want to be “that fat girl”... I wanted to be “a fat girl”. I’m okay being a girl with a different body type, without that defining the kind of roles I get.

I don’t know how much weight I lost for this one, didn’t weigh myself before and after... the focus was only on getting fitter. My lifestyle was absolute shit, and one tends to get defiant about it saying, ‘I am what I am,’ but it’s just rationalising for the bad behaviour. Thanks to this film I have started eating right and regularly. 

Karishma Upadhyay