The obvious first—what was your brief on portraying the woman in Vikram Bhatt’s real-life relationship in Ankahee?

Honestly, I don’t think I’m playing Sushmita Sen. Yes, I do play a Miss World winner who is gorgeous and powerful. But Vikram Bhatt narrated the story to me like any other.

I never thought of the character as based on Sushmitaji’s persona, simply because my director hadn’t conveyed anything different either.

Did that influence you?

Kavya Krishnan is a vulnerable, young woman, who despite all her strengths finds herself helpless in a particular situation. In her efforts to protect herself, she does a lot of things that actually go against her. I could empathise with her. In any case, I never knew Vikram or Sushmitaji when they were dating.

You have said that playing this character left you drained.

I had to feel Kavya’s pain to bring out the essence of her character. My approach to my characters depends on my directors. My homework is restricted to thinking like the woman I’m playing. This time Vikram drove me really deep into the character of Kavya. That was very draining.

Negative roles seem to work for you like they did in Dhoom and Dus.

Well, it’s negative only from an overview. What Kavya does is not considered right by our society. But put aside convention, look only at her emotions and then judge her. What she does is not really negative.

How much did you work on your appearance and body language?

My producer Rongita Nandy is very thorough on these matters. We actually went the whole hog with photo-shoots with crowns. At the same time, most of my scenes in the film don’t have much to do with pageants as much as with the vulnerable, lonely woman that Kavya is in her personal life.

We did work on my costumes and hairstyle—after all I am a model in the film, and that’s very different from my own athletic build, which is more suited to portray someone like Sania Mirza.

Amisha Patel and your director are personally very close. Did that make you insecure, despite you being the pivot of the story?

I have only one scene with Amisha in the film. But I’m not insecure. Give me a one-scene role in a film and I will hit a century.

Aftab was your first co-star. How was it doing another film together?

He has matured and improved tremendously since then. As I said, most of the scenes were demanding, and if your co-star isn’t good you can end up looking like a fool. Aftab’s skills as an actor made things easier.

What do you think went wrong with Pyare Mohan?

As a professional actor, I’m no one to judge senior filmmakers. I loved working with Induji (Indra Kumar) in both Masti and Pyare Mohan.

Which projects do we see you in next?

I am doing just two films—one is Meghna Gulzar’s Honeymoon with Fardeen Khan, again for Pritish Nandy Communications. In this, I play a simple, typically Indian girl but in Anubhav Sinha’s Cash with Riteish Deshmukh and Zayed Khan, I get into some action. Despite the kind of roles I did in Dhoom and Dus, I did not really kick butt in them. In Cash, I will.

Your sister Ahaana reportedly plans to turn director like your mom. Dad’s a producer too. What about you?

Come on, yaar, let me enjoy acting for now! I have lots of dreams for later.