It was tough to show rage to Amitabh Bachchan: Mouni Roy on playing antagonist in Ranbir-Alia's 'Brahmastra'

While it usually takes a long time for TV actors to get films opposite big Bollywood stars, in just a year since her silver-screen debut, Mouni Roy has four plum projects. Best known for Naagin on the small screen, the starlet kicked off the journey with Gold opposite Akshay Kumar, followed by John Abraham in Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW), Rajkummar Rao in Made In China and now the villain in Brahmastra starring megastar Amitabh Bachchan along with Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Mouni talks to us about working with these biggies and more.

Tell us about your role in Made in China.

I play Raghu’s (Rajkummar) wife Rukmani, who’s extremely independent and progressive and stays in a metropolitan city. After falling in love with the simple guy, she settles down in Ahmedabad.

You debuted on the big screen last year with a superstar like Akshay, then worked with John and now Rajkummar...

When you get to know that you are going to work with Akshay Kumar in your very first film, anybody would be on cloud nine. The same thing happened to me. When I got the news, I was jumping with joy. Likewise, while working with John and Rajkummar. It was like a dream come true. All three of them are top actors. Working with them feels like you have arrived because to reach the position where they are right now, needs a lot of passion and dedication. They have proved themselves through their work; that’s why they have reached here. In many ways, I have learnt many things from them.

Mouni Roy; Pic: Esha Gupta

You have done a period drama (Gold), action thriller (RAW), comedy (Made in China) and fantasy film, Brahmastra. What genre do you fit in?

I don’t belong to any one genre. I am open to all kinds of films and enjoy doing every role that allows me to experiment. I don’t think an actor can belong to a particular category of films. It’s their versatility that represents them.

What was the most difficult part of playing a villain in Brahmastra?

I am the antagonist to Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchanji. As a villain, you have to obviously show fury and enmity towards them. That was extremely tough because I have looked up to Amitabhji as a hero ever since my teenage years. Not only was I performing in front of him but also had to show rage. For this, I had to prepare myself a lot! It was hard but now I really look forward to seeing it on the screen. The audience will see me in a new avatar.