She’s always been a bubbly soul and her off-screen persona has gelled with her on-screen roles. 

Srikanth is about a visually-impaired entrepreneur. Did working in this movie bring you closer to the perils faced by handicapped people every day. Did it make you more thoughtful, aware, and kind?

I think what it mainly highlighted for me was how in a lot of ways our country wasn’t as geared to help out disabled people. In Srikanth’s story, you’ll see how many hurdles came his way, not because he was blind, but because people weren’t geared to assist the ones who were blind. We had rules in place that overlooked people with disabilities. That’s what the majority of his fight has been about. So I think the movie just shed more light on the fact that it is not a lack of capability, it is a lack of resources. It’s as simple as putting a ramp outside a restaurant and not only having stairs. It is more accessible for someone who is in a wheelchair. These are the little things that I feel like should be implemented all over. Just little things in different ways that can help include more people and make everything more accessible.

Your character in Srikanth is very different from the past characters that you’ve played. How did you prepare yourself to play Swathi?

How was it working with Rajkummar Rao?

Raj (Rajkummar Rao) was fully in character on set all the time. I was shocked. He was Srikanth, he was not Raj. It was incredible because he had captured the real Srikanth’s facial movements and his manner of talking. I have met Srikanth in-person and then I have seen Raj as Srikanth. It is incredible what he has managed to do with the character. He is so prepared and professional. He is such a giving actor and a wonderful person. I feel really, really lucky.

What kind of roles are you looking forward to playing in the future?

Honestly, I just want to work on really good stories. I want to work with really good directors. I have been lucky to have been able to work with a lot of really wonderful directors. I am a total director’s actor. Whatever my director wants is what I end up giving. I want to work on films that demand something out of me. I want to feel challenged and I want to grow. I want to find something that will help me grow more as an actor. I want to feel satisfied as an actor. The two performances that I am actually proud of are the two films that I shot the earliest in my career – Jawaani Jaaneman and Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, the latter was by Anurag (Kashyap) sir. Those are my two favorite performances. My performances have received love but as an actor, I haven’t been satisfied. So, that’s what I am looking for now.