Rakul Preet Singh, who started off with Divya Khosla Kumar’s Yaariyaan in Bollywood, has fast gained popularity. She’s seen in the newly-released De De Pyaar De opposite Ajay Devgn. Talking about her rising career graph, the actor says, “I was 20 when I did Yaariyaan, and the first time I faced the camera I realised that I am dealing with new environment and new people. It was my first film in Bollywood and after three days I shot for a Telugu film, which released prior to Yaariyaan and was a huge hit. I continued working there till I got something substantial.”
The actor says that she started her career in the south with a Kannada film Gilli. “I was 18 then, and I thought it was good pocket money, and agreed to do the film. I didn’t know acting would become a full-fledged career some day. I didn’t know the language and rattled off my dialogues, and did it because I was paid well. I was a national-level golf player, prior to that and had never imagined I would do films. Now after having done 25 films in the south, there’s a sense of achievement. Money is not the criteria, now it’s all about passion. I am happy the way my journey has shaped up. I am more mature, I am experienced. When you work in different regions of cinema, you get more experience. It’s not about Hindi cinema or South Indian cinema. Whether my films are a hit or a flop, it’s not in my hands so I don’t mull over it. I just go by my instincts. As a person, I am spiritual in the way I deal with life or things. I think I have grown into a better person just by learning the craft,” says the 28-year-old.
Having worked with seasoned actors such as Manoj Bajpayee in Aiyaari, Tabu in De De Pyaar De, Singh feels “that films automatically become a learning curve. Learning is a subconscious performance. It’s a give and take reaction, and when there are such performance-oriented actors opposite you, your performance doubles up and you perform better subconsciously. You learn how to snap in and out of emotions. I was excited as they both were grounded, sorted, happy and chilled people. They are senior actors and they know how to say it.”
Speaking of her last film Aiyaari being a box office failure, Singh doesn’t let failures affect her. “I celebrate failures and sucess equally as these are important in your career. They are your reality check and teach you to value your success. People wait for an opportunity to be seen on screen and I am lucky to get such a chance. That means I have to celebrate. It’s my passion that I am celebrating. A film may or may not do well at the box office, but that is not in my hands. I work in the next one with equal fervour,” she beams.