Mrunal Thakur After gaining popularity on TV with shows like Kumkum Bhagya, Thakur who made a debut in Bollywood with Love Sonia, will now be seen in Super 30. She speaks with Muskan Bakshi about her experience of working in the film

• What is your role in the movie?

 I play Supriya in the film. She is a happy go lucky  girl who inspires Anand (Hrithik Roshan), to follow his dreams. There is a nice and cute love story between them as well. Supriya is vibrant, is always smiling, laughs and is chirpy. But at the core, she is a typical Indian girl who understand values. For her, her family is important.

• What were the challenges?

It was a big challenge to bring in the Bihari accent that was needed. We did couple of workshops with our coach. I watched lot of films which were based out of Patna. Second, was to learn kathak. It was absolutely great that I got to learn this dance from pandit Birju Maharaj. I am very thankful to these workshops because this process has helped me to hone in my skills as a performer and not just for Super 30 but also for my upcoming projects.

• What is the difference between the acting in films and TV?

In films, you have the script; this helps you know the character you are playing and try to step into the shoes. Acting in TV, you don’t have the script, you don’t know what is going to happen until the day you land up. There have been many instances where I have wanted to know what will happen in the next episode. TV is TRP driven and what the channel wants. In films we shoot for six-seven months. For TV, we shoot the entire episode in one day, we don’t have time for preparation. having said this, TV has been a grooming process. I learnt a lot from TV which I could apply on the sets of the movie.

What was the atmosphere like on the sets?

We had so much fun. It was very relaxed. I learnt a lot of things because Hrithik would share his experiences. It was nice to hear these stories from him and how he learnt and how he would assist others to learn the ticks of the trade — not just on the sets but also at the editing table. I was impressed by the fact that Hrithik knows the ins and out of how things are done.

• What about the experience of working with Hrithik Roshan?

He made me very comfortable. He was the one who would always start a conversation. He made it a point to ask for my opinion of how Supriya should and would react to a particular situation and how I thought Anand should be towards Supriya. In a couple of workshops that we did together, he told me not to read the script and just follow my gut and reaction when I meet Anand for the first time. These were small exercises but it was a great learning process.

• How did you get this role?

I was called for an audition which I gave five-six times. But I had to finally wait for six-seven months before I knew I would be essaying Supriya.

• Is it tough for TV actors to make it big in films?

 If we can act and the camera is the same I don’t see what the difference is. Only the mediums are different. I am happy that there are lot of actors beside me like Shah Rukh Khan, Sushant Singh Rajput and Mouni Roy who began their career with TV. There is no reason  why a TV actor can’t make it big in films. It’s not impossible. One just has to work harder.

• Future projects.

There are two. At present, I am working on Bahubali (for Netflix). I play Shivagami. The other is Batla House opposite John Abraham.