Soft & shy girl but fiery if need be

Richa Chadda is the latest art-house pin-up girl. After the successful ‘Fukrey’ she will be seen next in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Ram Leela’.

Excerpts from an interview:

What is the real Richa Chadda like?

I am fairly soft and shy and I take my time to open up to people. I have very few friends, but I am quite close to the friends that I have. I am private to a large extent and I think I am fiery only when there is an extreme need to be.

If you had to choose between a Dibakar Banerjee and a Karan Johar film, which one would you choose?

I’d ask them to get into a co-production and thereby work with both, where one directs and the other produces.

What is your style mantra?

My style mantra is comfort with a hint of sensuality and quirkiness. You don’t have to be a label whore. Do what looks good on you, your body type, your complexion and your culture as opposed to following some Milan trend blindly. Do what you can rock.

What is the craziest thing you have done so far?

The craziest and the naughtiest thing I’ve ever done was in high school, when one of my teachers got upset with me. I was a good mimic, so I called up other teachers and with teacher A, I pretended to be teacher B, with Teacher B, I pretended to be teacher C and called them all to attend the funeral of the teacher who was mad at me. It was insensitive but fun and we students attended the funeral too.

My idea of a romantic date is a really cosy room with a fragrant candle, nice upholstery, DVD, some nice lounge music, maybe some red wine and home-cooked meal, which is really intimate as opposed to going to a fancy restaurant, where everybody is minding their table manners. My idea of romance is very intimate and closed.

If not an actress, you’d be?

I would have been a photographer or a writer. I’d be a photojournalist… that would be ideal!

What do awards mean to you?

The best moment of my life was holding the Filmfare Award in my hand for my first movie.

Tell us about Ram Leela?

There’s very little I can say about Raseela, my character in Ram Leela, except that she is someone with a lot of sensuality, feminity, and a lot of grace and elegance. She has all the qualities that I think are there ideally in a woman.