It has been raining cats, dogs and the entire zoo in Mumbai!” That is how the always animated and inimitable Kubbra Sait starts off this conversation. But that is how Kubbra, who has followed up her memorable Kukoo act in Sacred Games with a host of other interesting acting jobs, has always been — a spot of sunshine, no matter what the weather may be.

The 42-year-old leggy stunner has just had a big-ticket theatrical release in Ajay Devgn’s comic caper Son of Sardaar 2 and is awaiting the drop of the second season of her JioHotstar series The Trial, with Kajol in the lead.

It has been a busy couple of months for you. How would you describe it?

It has all been a blur. It has been a nice, hectic time of the year that you have caught me at (smiles). Professionally speaking, I am in the middle of some cool, new and exciting things. A lot of it has to do with the setup of the two projects — Son of Sardaar 2 and The Trial 2 — that I have been in the middle of. Son of Sardaar 2 was a very fulfilling experience. To be part of such a crew and to play a character that is stylish, sexy, fun, unapologetic, loud... it was amazing. There were so many parts of me that I was playing in this role, so much so that it felt like the most liberating exercise of my life, it is my most unapologetic role ever.

Very rarely does one get to play a character that is so you. Of course, the lines are not what I would say, but the energy and the spirit of the character is so me that the joy of playing Mehwish was very special. I honestly feel we made a great film, it made a lot of people laugh and that was the only thing we wanted to do.

Right after that, I got into The Trial 2. This is the first second season of any show for me... because I have always died in the first season! (Laughs)

Son of Sardaar 2, despite the similarities you felt to your character, really required you to put yourself out there. It is that kind of a film. Did that require some getting used to?

No, no, I talk shit all the time! It was the greatest place for me to be in. Life is too serious. So I loved being part of a project where I got to be carefree. It is kind of a make-believe world and one needs to buy into that story.

We were not trying to change perspectives with this film. We just wanted audiences to have a good time. My character is a great foil to everybody else in the film. She has her place in the film and in the story, as well as her point of view. I had the most liberating time playing this character.

Apart from Mehwish, is there any other part that has felt closest to who you are?

There is always a little bit of you in every character because you are the vehicle for it. Personality-wise, this is the closest that has come to me because every other character that I have played so far has been kind of grim.

But Rhea in Jawaani Jaaneman (also starring Saif Ali Khan and Alaya F) was an urban girl where, for the first time, I felt I can be stylish on screen.

You started off as a host and anchor and acting came much later. What parts of your personality and what aspects of your skills has this career opened up for you?

That is a good question. Acting has definitely made me less judgmental as a person. Every time we actors play a character, we don’t judge them or their choices. It also opens up your purview of how fractured most people around us are. So you automatically become more empathetic towards situations and towards people. That has been the greatest contribution of acting to my life and as a person. I probably didn’t see it when I did Ready (with Salman Khan) but I did realise it with Kukoo (Sacred Games).

So much of acting is about observing and absorbing. Do you also do anything tangible to contribute to that experience or does most of it organically make its way into you?

I do go for my acting classes. Saurabh Sachdeva (actor) was my first acting teacher and he continues to be so. He teaches me how to be closest to myself. I think the more you learn to get closer to yourself, the better actor you become.

And then, of course, you have tools of the craft. I have enjoyed acting so much in the last few years that I want to better my craft, and I am working towards it every day.

At the end of the day, acting is as much about practice as it is about spontaneity. The same thing happens when you go to the gym consistently. You get so good that even during the time you aren’t working out, you are able to show your strength. It looks effortless and that is what acting is for me.

Given your vast experience as an anchor, do lines come relatively easily to you?

As an anchor, I am always myself. But even in the most generic film script, your role is never generic... it is tailor-made for you. For any actor, our biggest tools are our lines, our dialogues. And if they are good lines, they really hit home. Like even today, Kukoo and Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) exchanging the lines: “Jannat toh main hoon. Jisko jannat dekhni hoti hai na, woh mere paas aate hain.... Tujhe dekhte toh sab hain. Tu dikhti nahi kisi ko,” are remembered. A good line will also have the power to make you believe and those are the lines that come easily to me.

Your joke-a-day exercise on Instagram is fast gaining popularity. I know you do it for fun but is there the desire to put it all together at some point, maybe in a stand-up comedy act?

I am just having a very good time with my jokes. For me, telling those jokes has become a part of my discipline. I wake up, record my joke and head out to the gym. It has become glued to me as a part of my daily routine. And, trust me, most of my jokes are one-take.

My jokes are actually my way of creating my own dopamine. And I am so happy that there is a sort of community forming that likes and looks forward to these jokes. On the rare times I miss posting them, I get messages on Instagram saying: ‘We are missing your jokes!’

I know that I am spreading joy and I am not guilty about it. In fact, I am very proud of the fact that when I wake up in the morning, people are meeting good energy and I am that person who is able to give that to them. People have met me and said: ‘F*** dude, dedication!’ And I am like: ‘No it is the easiest thing for me... jokes comes easily to me’.

Having written your memoir already, do you feel there is another book in you somewhere?

At this moment, I am only doing all things related to audio-visual entertainment. That is it.

I know that you love to travel. What does travel mean to you and how does it feed your soul?

I am sane because I travel. All of last week, I was in Bali. I enjoy travelling... I look for those moments of escape between projects, especially if they are of a heavy nature. Travel, to me, is a kind of disconnect that I really need. I need it to come back to who I am as a person. I need that moment without my phone. I do it more consciously than I do most other things in my life.