"As far as I am concerned, the most important part of a film is the script and the director comes only next"

RISHIKA CHANDANI

What is your role in the film ‘Who Am I’?

I play the role of the protagonist Aditi in the heroine oriented film Who Am I directed by Shireesh Khemaria and produced by Shirish Prakash in which I even play an action packed role

How did you bag the film?

I have had experience in the field of acting for quite a long time as I have acted in a lot of plays right from the age of 15 in Indore

Did your parents oppose your desire to take up acting?

You would not believe it but the fact remains that it was my parents who insisted that I take up acting as a career though I wanted to study further and pursue an academic career

How did you pursue your career?

As I wanted to explore acting, the first thing that I did was to come to Mumbai and study a course in acting for three years at Subhash Whistling Woods at Goregaon in Mumbai and came out with flying colours with a degree in B A (Acting) by learning from various reputed teachers of acting from those who had graduated from National School of Drama as well as the Pune Film & TV Institute

What did you focus while you learnt acting?

I learnt to focus on realism and theory while learning acting. By acting in short films produced while I was learning at the school,I explored acting during my three years course and learnt what voice modulation and projection degree, which help me in theatre too greatly. All these made me very strong as an actor

What else did you learn from the acting school?

I tried to learn what backstory is and how, important it is for an actor. I also learnt that all the characters in a film are very near to each other and my theatre discipline also had taught me that no actor is more or less important than another one

How did you prepare for your part as Aditi?
I reached the location 15 days before the shoot began and started taking part in acting workshops to prepare for my part as Aditi in the film. I show for almost 25 days for the film. I also mingled with the locals there and learnt how to speak the dialogues lacing it with the local dialect of Hoshanabad perfectly

How were your co-actors in the film?

Chetan Sharma who is playing the leading man in the film opposite me besides being a very professional actor helped me a great deal in letting me understand what exactly my character actually is. Also I could learn a lot about acting from my senior actor like Surendra Rajan (of the film Munna Bhai MBBS fame)

What kind of roles would you like to do in films?

I like to get my teeth into rooted roles which set out to depict our ancient culture as well as tradition properly.

Were you scared of the casting couch syndrome in the film industry?

My funda is very simple. If I go to seek work and I find that I am not getting good mental vibes or my vibes with the person do not match at all in any which way, I simply take a step or two back

What is your personal take as far as exposure of anatomy is concerned?

I do what my heart tells me to do instinctively though frankly speaking, I have yet to decide whether or not I should expose my skin

What else have you been a part of, besides the film ‘Who Am I’?

I recently acted in a music video too. I also want to act in web series

Who are your favourite actors?

I like Shweta Tiwari, Alia Bhatt, Radhika Apte and Vicky Kaushal, who are well known for doing rooted roles.

Besides acting are you proficient in any other department as an actress?

I think I am very good at dancing too, besides emoting as an actress.

Tell me who are in the list of your wish list of filmmakers with whom you want to work in films desperately?

As far as I am concerned, no offence meant but then fact remains that though I really like directors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani and Anurag Kashyap, as far as I am concerned, the most important part of a film is the script and the director comes only next.

What is your ambition?

As of now, I want to grow as an actor and end up being successful too and good enough to make my parents proud by buying my own house in the city of Mumbai.