Less than a decade after her debut in Bollywood, Rakul Preet Singh is a highly sought-after actor with several films lined up for release
Rakul Preet Singh is a self-made actor. In a little over seven years since her Bollywood debut in the 2014 film Yaariyan, she has worked her way through the uphill task of dealing with the tag of an outsider, and is today one of the busiest actors in the Hindi film industry.
She attributes her success to her ability to not be cowed down or be scared of losing stardom. “I am not the kind of person who lives in fear. I came with nothing and I always see the brighter side. I got an opportunity to live my dream and here I am. Ultimately it boils down to when people start appreciating your work. That one smile that you bring on someone’s face or when they come and say ‘we loved that film of yours’. That is what we all work for, after all,” she said.
At 30, Rakul is highly sought-after in Bollywood, and has a long list of films lined up for release over the next few months. Currently, she awaits the release of the OTT film Sardar Ka Grandson, co-starring Arjun Kapoor. She also has Mayday coming up with Amitabh Bachchan and the film’s actor-director Ajay Devgn. In Attack, she shares screen space with John Abraham. She also has Thank God with Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra, Kamal Haasan’s Indian 2 and the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Doctor G in the works.
“There is so much love from the audience and the constant thought is to just keep working in different settings with the hope to entertain,” she added.
Rakul made her acting debut in the 2009 Kannada film Gilli, and her Telugu debut in Keratam the same year. A year later, she made her Tamil debut in Thadaiyara Thaakka.
In Bollywood, many consider the 2019 comedy hit De De Pyaar De, co-starring Devgn and Tabu, her coming-of-age role. She has also been seen in Marjaavan and Aiyaari.
Ask her what is important — script or the character — Rakul replies that she believes in the theory of “permutation and combination.”
“Sometimes you choose a film because you love the story and you want to be a part of the message promoted by the film or the entire premise of the film itself. And then there are times when you go by your character and the script. The rest of the times, it depends on the director and other actors involved with the project. It is subjective to each prospective film,” she said.
Talking about Sardar Ka Grandson slated for release on May 18 on Netflix, Rakul explained what made her choose this project, “It was the pure emotion of the film that made this a no brainer. While I cannot tell you all about it for obvious reasons, the story depicts a grandson who is willing to go to any extent to fulfill his grandmother’s wish.”
