Rakul began her journey with modelling and in just about a month, many offers fell on her lap. She debuted in a Kannada movie Gilli, which was a remake of the Tamil movie 7G Rainbow Colony. Right after the movie, she decided to pursue her graduation and took a break for two years only to come back and rock the Miss India contest, which gave her the platform she needed. Being Punjabi, foraying into South Indian industry wasn’t part of her plans, but she dint let the language barrier get the better of her. Rakul is soon proving that she is here to stay and she’s not looking back.
Rakul was 18-years-old when she started her career and modelling helped her with the kind of foundation she needed. She says, “I started modelling early and just a month after I finished my first photoshoot, I got an offer to play the lead in Gilli. I took it up and I had no idea that the South Indian film industry is this huge. I consider myself fortunate that I got this opportunity. Though I was just one movie old, I wanted to make sure I finish my education. So I took a break for two straight years post my first movie.”
Rakul is a firm believer in having a backup plan and she wants to make sure that she doesn’t fall in a situation where she has no Plan B. “Acting would always be my first love and I will continue pursuing it. However, I believe that in the future when I reach that point where I have to fall back upon another career, it would always be brand management. I am a very optimistic person but that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in weighing the pros and cons. I wanted to make sure I finish my education, so that I don’t have to worry in the future,” she says.
“I am so careful that even when I make plans with my friends, I always have a backup plan for the evening just in case the former doesn’t work out. That’s the way I am, I like to be careful and precautionary about everything in life. I am a kind of a perfectionist you can say,” she adds.
Her first Tamil movie Yuvan was shot last year and is all set to release this year. The movie is the remake of Keratam. Rakul also starred in a supporting role in ThadaiyaraThaakka and Puthagam. Her first huge success was Venkatadri Express, which gave her a big break into the top league films. “Before I acted in Venkatadri Express, I used to read a lot of scripts and finally I decided to go ahead with it. I worked hard and I was elated when I received the Best actress nomination for it. With regards to my Tamil movies, I have finished shooting Yuvan and it’s all set to release this year. I am reading scripts in Tamil and looking for some good roles in Tamil,” she says.’
She played a role of a geek in her Bollywood debut Yaariyan and a glamorous role in NaanakuPrematho opposite Jr NTR. Choosing genres is not her kind of thing, she says, “As an actor I don’t like to limit myself to any genre. I would like to try different roles and do my best in every performance. I will always try to do different roles and improve my skills. Actors are like clay and we should be able to mould ourselves in any character. In any other profession can you be a geek one day, cop and a doctor another day? I enjoy every bit of it.”
With reports of Rakul replacing the top league actresses of Tollywoodand taking the top spot, many rumours are being written on her. Reports say she is the latest Queen of Tollywood. To these reports, she optimistically says, “I don’t think anyone is anybody’s competition. We are all here to work and I have a great professional relationship with my colleagues. I have been cordial to everyone and the industry has supported me and welcomed me with open arms.”
Rakul’s next Bollywood movie is Shimla MIrchi and her co-star is National award winner, RajkummarRao. “I play HemaMalini’s daughter and the movie is set in Shimla and I guess I am the Mirchi in the movie. I loved working with Hemaji and Rajkummar; they are great co-stars and I got to learn a lot from them. I will continue to do movies in all the different industries and I’m excited about my future movies in all the languages,” she adds
Rakul has never been linked to any of co-star and her logic is very simple. “All my co-stars are married and there’s really no reason why they would link me with them. With regards to my love life, I am very much single and I don’t intend to be in a relationship anytime soon. I am busy with my work and I don’t have time for a guy right now.”
Rakul Unplugged
Girl next door? Not always! I am a tomboy sometimes and sometimes I like being a diva.
Ideal Date Destination? I don’t really care about the destination. It’s the person that matters, no matter what the destination is.
Director you would love to work with? Shankar and Mani Ratnam
