Amrita Rao in Singh Saab The Great

The promos of Singh Saab The Great have a distinctive Gadar look and feel…

Very honestly, I haven’t seen Gadar (the 2001 box-office biggie starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel). I think I am one of the very few people who haven’t (smiles). I can’t really draw a comparison, though many people are definitely telling me that it reminds them of Gadar. But given that it has Sunny Deol, Punjab is very excited about the film, like it was for Gadar. Sunny sir’s dialogues and action are creating a buzz. Also, the Sunny Deol-Anil Sharma (director) combination always raises expectations.

What can you tell us about your character Shikha Chaturvedi?

I play a television news reporter from a Hindi channel. She has a strong eastern UP accent and is on a mission to expose Singh Saab (Sunny Deol). The film is narrated by my character. Playing a media person gave me such a rush because there were so many dynamics involved… getting the accent right, getting the look correct, mastering the regular news parlance… everything was so exciting. I did a lot of research on how reporters dress when they are out on the field. I felt that the research I did made the whole process a lot more exciting.

Sunny Deol is known to be very reserved on set…

I never thought I would do a film with him. Though I am not romancing him in this film, we have quite a few scenes together. Working so closely with him was an experience. Seeing Sunny Deol do action sequences in real time is a different rush altogether. I look at him as a Jekyll and Hyde kind of character. When the camera isn’t rolling, he’s very reserved and doesn’t talk much. On camera, he’s a livewire. But he’s very soft-spoken and a thorough gentleman all the time.

Satyagraha was brain draining. When you have to do every scene with Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan, it can be very stressful

You’ve had a busy year with Jolly LLB, Satyagraha and now Singh Saab The Great…

All these films were signed about three years ago and it’s destiny that they have all released in 2013. It’s been a good year for me. Of the three films, Satyagraha was brain draining. When you have to do every scene with Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan, it can be very stressful (smiles). It was a big film with a big starcast and I am glad I could hold my own in front of them. Singh Saab... was easier and exciting and the role in Jolly LLB was exactly how I am in life.

Your Twitter bio reads: ‘Wish I was an Actress in the 50s! Dream of visiting NASA’. That’s interesting!

(Laughs) Everything about the ’50s, that I call the golden era of our films, is so exciting. Right from costume to set design to the romance, it was so stunning. I am so hooked to that period… I wish I could do a black-and-white film and play Madhubala. As for NASA, visiting it is a long-cherished dream. Just the whole idea of space and our existence as humans as a tiny speck in the universe is so intriguing. I would really like to know more about it.