Life has been sweeter for Nushrat Bharucha ever since her film Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety made it to the Rs 100-crore club. In Calcutta recently for an event, the petite star, whom we have seen earlier in the Pyaar Ka Punchnama films, chatted with t2 about playing an anti-heroine. 

Congratulations for the huge success of Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Does it still seem a little unreal?

It actually does. I feel the love, I feel the fact that people really enjoyed the film. And that is going to be a little difficult for me because it is not easy to hear that they loved the film and then do another film and not hear that! I hope the next one is just as good. If the next is not good, then what am I going to do?! (Laughs) But it’s a great feeling. 

When you were making the film, did you think it would become such a big hit?

Not at all. When we were making the film, we were just hoping that it does well so that if we are making another film, we get a platform to do better work. When the film became a hit, it just took all of us by surprise. We knew it was a good film and people would laugh watching it, but we never anticipated this.

When you look back, what do you think worked for the film?

The writing... but then you can question me saying that the writing was there in Pyaar Ka Punchnama  and Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 as well. There I’ll add my second point which is that we had a family audience, a family script and a family flavour in the writing and filming. We already had the youth and now we have a huge chunk of family audiences that are going back and watching it too.
 
Did you have any apprehensions about playing the “anti-heroine” Sweety?

Of course! I read the script and I just kept thinking, ‘Why me?!’ If I had not done something like this before — like the nagging, annoying, controlling girl in the Pyaar Ka Punchnama films — then maybe I would have felt like, ‘Yes, in one film I could be an anti-hero’. But I have consistently been that in one way or the other in my films. I had a lot of fun and I like the one-upmanship. I really like the strength of the character because she’s not playing the victim and being manipulative. She’s strong.

Despite the fact that she’s negative, Sweety is a memorable character and a woman of many strengths. Is she like you in any way?

Sweety really wanted to marry Titu (played by Sunny Singh) and be a part of his family. She fought for it even if it meant fighting the best friend (Sonu, played by Kartik Aaryan). In that aspect, I can relate to her because I would fight for something I really want that much, but I don’t have the mind to scheme the way she does. When I read the character, I understood that she had a subtle strength and what she did spoke more than what she said. I found this one pulse of her and I just let the scenes unfold. I let her become me and it just kept happening. We call it ‘sur’ in Bollywood where you tap that one note and you can create a whole song around it.

You must have got a lot of positive feedback for her. Is there anything that has remained a little more memorable?

I can’t name this director but he had approached me for a film a few years back and I couldn’t do the film because I was doing Pyaar Ka Punchnama. So when I said no, he called me mad and said I was making the worst decision of my career because he was a big director and I was working with new people. After Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety released, he messaged me saying that I had done a terrific job. For me, this was memorable because it made me think that life comes full circle.

How are you choosing your roles now?

Someone once said to me that these sort of films have become kind of a legacy for me. I choose my roles in a manner where I don’t want to tarnish it. I don’t want to play a role in a film where people will say, ‘How did she go from that to this?!’ The quality of what I’m doing and also the fact that I have to enjoy it, is where my main focus is. I have worked too hard to get to this place and I’m not going to throw it away for some quick bucks or any general film.

If you were approached for a sequel to Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, would you do it?

Of course! I’ve made an image for myself with these films. Now that it has worked so well for me, why will I pass it on to someone else? I’ll only do it, no matter what!

What else will we see you in?

No idea! There is just so much going on in this industry that people can’t decide what they want to do. And because they can’t decide, neither can I. Trust me it’s like that!