Free-spirited flow

Amarjot Kaur

While Bollywood film Befikre, which is set to be released next week, has been in news for 23 on-screen kisses the female lead of the film, Vaani Kapoor, says, “I don’t think it’s a big deal.” Playing the role of a free-spirited Indian girl who is born and brought up in Paris, Vaani engages in a rather honest conversation. Not only does she take a solid stand against body shamming, considering that most of Bollywood-fuelled glamour dwells on exploring and setting unrealistic yet conventional standards of beauty, she also details on how she prepared for the role of Shyra, which, she believes, resonates with the generation of 90s and 2000.

Hardwork pays

Directed by Aditya Kapoor, even the trailer of Befikre flaunts Vaani’s washboard abs as she dons a cropped top with denim shorts. As much of a diva she manages to look in the song Nashe Si, there was more to the act that the shutterbugs failed to capture. “Well, we were shooting in Paris and it was freezing. Dressed in summer clothes both Ranveer and I were shivering, and would frequently get an earful from Aditya Chopra who would shout: Stop shivering, I can see it on the camera,” says Vaani. However, that’s only for starters. Vaani shares that she was in fact very nervous just before the shoot began and the only remedy was to take a plunge, and trusting the director, of course. “For days altogether, I prepared for the role. However, just when we were about to shot the film, it all came crashing down on me and I was very nervous. That’s when Aditya sir told me to take it easy and soothed my worried nerves. Nashe Si was the song we started the shoot with and it set the energy levels for the rest of the film,” she shares.

Ready to go

Besides learning French and spending hours each day to shape and understand the character of Shyra, Vaani shares that she worked out for two hours at the gym to get those desirable abs. “It was intense. I learnt French and attended workshops. However, apart from working out for two hours at the gym daily, we would dance for at least 3-4 hours for the songs that we were to shoot for. I was on a specific diet and I remember a chef was flown down from India to Paris for Ranveer and me, so that our diet was not disturbed,” she says. Well, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds though for Vaani’s efforts bagged quite a Bollywood-ish compliment from Ranveer, who she shares, said, “Your abs are like SRK’s abs in Dard-e-disco!”

Net gain

They say all is well that ends well and for Vaani just playing the role of Shyra was creatively fulfilling. “Shyra and Dharam are very relatable characters. Not that I had a reference point for a woman as free-spirited as Shyra, but it was incredibly inspiring to have played that role. I think I have started to take life as it comes and quite uninhibitedly, without being repressed by the expectations of the society...just like Shyra,” says Vaani. Of Bollywood and its glamour-defining stereotypes, Vaani opines, “Though most youngsters in France are fitness-conscious, I would not shame anyone for how they look. That’s unacceptable and I don’t stand for it.”

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