How did Hasee Toh Phasee happen?

I auditioned about eight-nine times and then did a look test. I had not played a glam character like this before, so they wanted to be sure that I looked right. Once I cleared those, everything fell in place.

You play the second lead to Parineeti Chopra. One hears you’ve become friends since....

Ya. We’ve become close friends but I guess that would happen if you hang around with the same people for 100 days. It’s really nice when you get along with a co-star. Parineeti is really nice and we’ve gone out for films together. We have the same kind of sense of humour so it’s fun to hang around with her.

It’s been a double celebration for you: your Telugu film Heart Attack released the Friday before Hasee Toh Phasee and is a blockbuster in Andhra Pradesh.

It’s so exciting. I missed out on all the fun around Hasee Toh Phasee in Mumbai because I have been stationed in Hyderabad. I went to a theatre here to watch Hasee Toh Phasee and everyone started chanting my screen name from Heart Attack — Hayati. People have been calling me ‘Heart Attack Hayati’! (Laughs)

Didn’t you also shoot these two films back to back?

The song Shake it like Shammi was what we shot the last for Hasee Toh Phasee. I finished shooting that and flew to Goa the same evening. That night I was shooting the first scene for Heart Attack in Goa. It was the climax scene where I am supposed to be drugged. Doing such polar opposite scenes in a space of 24 hours was so exciting!

You got some good reviews for Vikram Bhatt’s 1920 five years ago, but disappeared after that. What happened?

I think horror isn’t a genre that the industry accepts very easily. I got a lot of audience appreciation for 1920. It helps that the film plays on television all the time (laughs). People come up to me with dialogues and scenes that they remember. Also, I have no background in films. So it has taken me a while to make some sort of an impression. It seems to have happened with Hasee Toh Phasee.

Did you grow up wanting to act?

(Laughs) I grew up wanting to be a lot of things. I have been a gymnast since I was three, so at one point I wanted to join the circus. I thought of painting hoardings for a living and also becoming a farmer! But by the time I got to Class X, I knew that I wanted to be an actress. I wanted to drop out of school but my parents insisted that I at least complete my schooling.

What are your other passions apart from acting?

I have been dancing since I was three. I started learning jazz and ballet. In Class VIII, I started learning kathak. I should soon graduate from Gopi Krishna’s Dance Academy in kathak. I went to the US a couple of years ago to learn salsa for four months. I am very good with belly dancing too and I can’t wait to showcase it in a film at some point.

Do you have a wish list of directors you want to work with?

(Laughs) I am very greedy so I want to work with everyone. If I started naming everyone, we’ll be talking for a very long time.

What will we see you in next?

Some interesting films, hopefully. I have some scripts but I am not sure which one will happen next.

Karishma Upadhyay