‘Felt like an alien when I started’
After a cracking Bollywood debut with Singham, Kajal Agarwal’s next Hindi film is Special Chabbis opposite Akshay Kumar.
The two films have come a long time apart and the star says that she had to take care of her commitments down South first. “There were eight films in a row; they have now finally been completed.”
Mumbai is home to her, so Bollywood was like homecoming for Kajal. “You may call me a Southern siren but I am a South Mumbai girl. Working in Southern films initially was a culture shock for me. When I started doing South films I felt like an alien.
“I have grown up in the South Mumbai and am very broad-minded; suddenly I was sent to this small village, Madanpalle, near the Karnataka-Andhra border for my debut Telugu film. I was made to run through fields and in between goats and ride a bicycle. I was terrified as I had never ridden a bicycle before. It was all beyond belief.”
While Bollywood filmmakers want slim heroines, plus sizes is the rage down South. “Yes. In the South the directors like women ‘plump’. Times are changing now; you don’t have to be a size zero anymore. It’s fine as long as you are fit and your belly is not falling out.”
The star is also known for “not exposing” on screen. “I had reservations when I did films in the South and I have reservations here too. I am okay with glamour in different ways. I believe that a girl can look hot in skinny jeans and a well-fitted kurta. I don’t think you need to shed clothes to look hot. If a director insists I will simply ask him to change it for me.”
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