Parineeti Chopra: I have a back up plan if acting career fails

She is feisty, warm and uncannily intelligent for a movie star. Parineeti Chopra, who is back from a vacation, looking luminous and all set to take on the world, spoke to Pinkvilla on the career switch, her acting chops versus her weight issues, and matters of the heart.

With Kill Dill' and Dawaat- E- Ishq' up for release, we did ask but got no replies on the film other than a feeling of excitement. So we skip that here, and get straight to the point!

You've just got back from a vacation. Where did you go? Did you go with your family?

I don't travel with family. The point is to go and chill out on your own. I was in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Bali. Before that, I travelled to New York and Miami. I have been holidaying for the last one month because, last year, I literally didn't take a single day off. I was working all through out, each day!

Everyone says, that no you must have taken Sundays off, or New Years. I didn't, and literally worked 365 days. I was coming home only to sleep and then was awake and travelling everywhere, so many flights I have taken! I had worked very hard, I fainted on one set and then I realized that I must take a break. So I spoke to my manager and said I have to take time off for at least 15 days.

Now I have been back to work for a week, and I am feeling refreshed.

It's a price to pay for stardom, would you say? While there are so many benefits to being a movie star, your personal life gets compromised, right?

I would say it's an understatement to say that your personal life gets affected. Your health goes for a toss, your privacy goes for a toss. People think Oh, it's such a great life, you get to be seen onscreen everyday, you get paid lots of money, and you travel'. It's the exact opposite of that.

I am sure every actor says that, that it's not as glamorous as it looks. Acting is the smallest part of the job. We are doing so much else each day, we are doing interviews, shooting, hearing narrations, sitting through meetings, making appearances, reading scripts, that is literally back to back! Even if you are in the car, travelling from here to Juhu there are two interviews lined up on the phone (a 10 minute distance). So it's exhausting.

Why did you make the switch to acting? I believe had you stuck to the marketing side of films, you would have done very well too. Is acting something that you always wanted to do?

I actually never wanted to do this, ever. Like anybody from the outside, I used to think that it's a brainless job, it's for people who don't study, or don't have brains and are looking for an easy opportunity to make a career. I was a banker by professions, and used to look down upon this, and I actually never even thought of it!

And then I came to work at YRF, as you've seen. And then I saw the actors, and that was the switch for me! In the year and a half working here, I realized that what I used to think, is not true at all! Acting in front of a camera, is something very few people can do. Even if you put a still camera in front of people they get conscious. Performing before a camera is not easy, and then being watched and judged by millions of people is challenging. I realized that acting is an intelligent job.

I used to do school plays, so I knew that I can manage the acting part, but was unsure if I wanted to get into this life. I was a very private person, I travel a lot and like to take vacations by myself. Once I had taken the decision to switch, I tried. And then I got a film very soon. If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have done it. Rest of it has been let's do one more, and one more, and that's how it has been.

Banking and finance are my first love, so I would have just gone back to London and worked there.

The good thing for you has been, that you are very good at it. So when did you learn to act? Did Priyanka have a role to play in this?

Nobody can teach you how to act. Your father or mother could be the best actor in the world, but that does not mean you know how to act. There are many superstars whose children we are not fans of. Because I feel acting as a gene can't be passed on. You either have it or you don't.

I always knew, somehow, that I could act. The question always was, do I want to? Also, I felt very comfortable on a film set right from the start, which is also quite different, for I come from a number crunching world, a very educated, literate world, where creativity didn't have much place. So be it writing, editing, dialogue, screenplay, or writing a song, all these things were very new to me.

I didn't know what all this meant, I didn't know what a shot or scene was. But I just felt comfortable, and that I could do it.

You've built a nice body of work, but you work in a generation where acting is conflated with looking thin. Fighting and dancing is sometimes equated with good acting when it comes to heroines.

Looking good is my priority, I don't work towards looking thin every day. I don't wake up and say that I can't eat that, I have to hit the gym. But the other side, is that, I used to be a very obese person, and was 86 kgs. I could barely fit into this chair, and found it difficult to walk and was tired all the time.

Now that I have shed weight, I have the stamina of any young person. I've lost so much weight, I know what are the advantages of looking thin, especially when you are onscreen. When I compare myself to my first film, I know how much better I look now that I am getting fitter. I am 25, I should be able to wear anything! Why should I have fat arms, or fat legs? I am working towards that, for I Don't Want to be That Fat Actress.

For me, there is no choice between a performance based role and a very glamorous role, for I want to create a balance. To only act well, is very boring and to only look good, is very boring. I am a fan of Deepika, Priyanka or Anushka, as they look great and are also fabulous actresses! So I want to be both.

Now that you've worked with Aditya Roy Kapur, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Sidharth Malhotra - who is left to work with amongst your contemporaries?

No one is left to work with amongst the young lot (laughs). I have also worked with Varun Dhawan when we shot the Wechat commercials, so I feel like I have worked with him too.

I really want to work with Ranbir. I wanted to work with Saif a lot, and I am doing a film with him which will be directed by Dinesh Vijan.

Priyanka, your cousin, has gone through a hard time with her father passing away. How has the family rallied together?

We try not to talk about Bade Papa' (grand uncle), as it really hurts her, she was very close to him. She was always a very very hard worker, and I am glad that she is like this, for she didn't have to plunge herself into work to get over her grief. Keeping herself busy, is the best she can do during this period.

As a family , we try to keep things normal for her and for Badi Mama (grand aunty).

Final question, with so much work happening to you, is there any time for love?

(Determined locking of her hands) This year, the only goal is to find love! I know you can't find anyone with a torch, and I have been saying it for two years now, but I am really craving for someone in my life. The only people I meet are people at work and old friends of mine. I hope to find my man soon!