Prachi: 14 going on 40!

That's what 21-year-old Prachi Desai says she is

You kept the elevator waiting while you posed with your fans for pics. Do you always oblige them?
It would be a great effort to be mean, to say no. But one doesn't have to be make an effort to be nice to people. One thing that I need to learn, that too only because of work, is that people tend to take advantage of you, of your goodness. Now I feel the need to be a little more stern, more curt, but not mean. It hasn't been a cakewalk. I'm not a starkid and I can't afford to be bad. I get work because of the kind of person I am.

Only 21, and this much gyaan...
Twenty one only in age. I know that I'm 14 at heart; I can behave as childishly as a nine-year-old. But I can also be 40 in my head. I think I play these mature characters with so much conviction because somewhere, I'm like those characters. I think it came with my upbringing. I grew up watching my mother's tough life and it knocked a lot of sense into me.

You started acting when you were only 17. Did it ever occur to you that you could have taken a little more time and maybe started a little later?
Oh no. No regrets about anything. I always wanted to be an actor. I didn't know how, though. I just gave an audition, got selected, came to Mumbai and started working. This is what I wanted and even though it was early, I don't think it has done me any harm.

From a demure housewife in Kasamh Se, to a thinking one in Rock On!!, to this brave new Prachi...
What I started with didn't need any of this. I was meant to be Bani Walia, a household TV name. The character that I played was of a mature, sensitive woman. In Rock On!!, I was a subtle yet stylish South Mumbai woman. In Life Partner, I was a modern girl for whom life is a laugh riot. In Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, you will see a bolder me. For me the role, the very act of going bold should be convincing enough to be worth all the effort. In the film, I play a very shy and conservative Muslim girl of the 70s. Emraan's character, on the other hand, keeps convincing me and this is the only one time when I actually give in to him. I think it's significant that the couple goes to watch Bobby and the guy gifts me this outfit that was such a rage in that era.

This is the only time when I actually let go. I trust Milan (Luthria, the director) a lot. It's important for the director to be convinced about what he is asking his actors to do. And it is equally important for the actors to trust the director. As confused as I was about how I would look in the outfit and the thought of a comparison with Dimpleji, Milan convinced me to wear it. One has to be a director's actor.

But this is also the time when some of the most glamourous actresses like Bipasha are going de-glam for their roles...
They've been in the industry for many years and they have always been these uber-chic and glamourous divas. It is possible that they are looking for a change in the way they are portrayed. They may be feeling the need to show to the industry that glamour is not all that they have. I'm just two films old and I can afford to go against the flow. In my case, I'm yet to be typecast.

But there must have been a lot of planning...
It doesn't work with planning, like 'Okay, in my third film, I'll go glam and in my fourth one, I'll do something else.' It's been a transition. Had I gone bold in my very first film, it would have been a culture shock, less for me and more for the audience. So I made sure that the transition was a smooth and a slow one. I think that now, the audience has accepted me as a woman in the industry and I hope that with every film I do, I will get to portray different characters. I'm used to it now, and after these two-three years, I think the audience is also used to it.

Do you feel lucky to have made the TV-to-films transition while many other very popular TV actors tried their luck in the film industry but couldn't prove themselves?
I feel lucky for having age on my side. Fortunately, I wasn't over-exposed on TV. I did Kasamh Se for some two-odd years or even less, while other actors had been playing some very popular characters for seven-eight years. After so many years, it becomes difficult for the audience to see you as someone else. You get stuck in their heads as the character you were playing on TV and they don't know you for the person you are. And then to try and make headway in a completely different avatar gets a little difficult. I think I changed course at just the right time.

You say that you are not a starkid. But you've always been talked about as being Ekta Kapoor's blue-eyed girl. Even your victory in Jhalak Dikhla Jaa was talked about for all the wrong reasons...
It's very sad. Only I know how much hard work and effort I had put in for that reality show. I rehearsed for many days and had many sleepless nights as well. I wonder why people couldn't believe that I was brought back as the wild card entry on the show, because I had the merit.

Even when I won, all the credit was heaped on Ekta's shoulders. I didn't like it and she didn't either. She doesn't have the time for all this. We are great friends and have many common friends, but that doesn't mean I'm toeing the line that she's marked for me. Many actors work with the same producer/director over and over again. What's wrong with that? It's rather sad to put in all the effort and not get the credit due to you.

Your favourite actresses?
From the yesteryears, I think Parveen Babi was the most stylish of them all. She had this enviable aura around her. I am a big fan of Neeutji as well. She had also started her career very early.

From among today's actresses, I would like to do roles like Kareena's in Jab We Met and Priyanka's in Fashion. Both were very stylish and yet had a lot of meat in their characters. Otherwise, I am very fond of Kangna Ranaut and Vidya Balan. Both are actresses of few words, don't have any unnecessary hang-ups and tantrums. Rather than doing the talking themselves, they let their work do the talking for them. And both are brilliant actors as well. I want to be like them.

Successful and popular actors are making their presence felt on the small screen as well. Do you also feel like accepting one of the TV offers coming your way?
When I left TV, I had made it very clear and evident that I had no plans of going back to TV. When Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa came my way, I accepted it since it was very exciting and offered me something that I hadn't tried earlier. I still get TV offers, but I have no plans of going back.

While most girls your age are living a carefree life, you've become a busy professional, juggling a full-fledged career...
Yeah, while other girls my age are prancing around, I'm shuttling between cities for shoots and promotional campaigns. While they are discussing pink shoes being such a rage, I'm so completely a no-accessory person. And while they are discussing dating issues, I'm discussing dates and bank accounts. I do sometimes miss that carefree life, but then this is the life that I had always wanted and wished for.

What's the toughest part of being an actress?
I find it really tough to keep a straight face throughout the interactions. I'm asked stock questions. There is a list of questions that I'm always asked. When I had signed Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, they started asking me how I would manage to act with Emraan Hashmi who has the reputation of being a serial kisser.

Someone even called him a 'serial killer' during an interaction! Everyone's still asking me the same question. I want to tell them, 'Hello, wake up. He is not a machine, he's a human being'. Trust me, Emraan is the most hassle-free star I have ever worked with. He is so like Purab Kohli, they gel well with everyone.

TRIVIA
Prachi has an elder sister who's studying in Melbourne.
She wants to study psychology now because, she says, "there's no use just studying, one has to learn."
Loves watching horror films. And among the recent romances, she is fond of the Twilight series. "I'm dying to watch Eclipse now," says she.