Radhika Madan, who was seen in fiery avatars in Pataakha and Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, stars in Homi Adajania's Angrezi Medium alongside Irrfan Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan. A sequel to 2017's Hindi Medium, Angrezi Medium is out on Friday. The Telegraph caught up with Radhika for an exclusive chat before the release.

You play a much younger just out-of-school 17-year-old girl. How did you get that look and body language right?

When I signed the film, I was 12kg heavier. Homi didn't ask me to lose weight, I just needed to get into the headspace of Tarika (her character in Angrezi Medium). I was doing the acting workshops and my coach told me that, 'You will look 17 but your eyes will give away that you're 24 because you have experience in your eyes but Tarika has still not seen life'. I didn't know how to let go of the experiences from my eyes, so Tarika is the toughest role I've played till date. I went with Homi to Udaipur and I hung out with these 16- and 17-year-olds. I used to dress up like them and I strictly told my team to not send me any car or bodyguard. I hung out with these people, had kulhar ka chai and learnt how they party. They just book a banquet, pool in money and call a DJ! I attended that, observed them and also asked them a lot of questions. I've studied in an English medium school in Delhi and I needed to learn how they speak studying in an English medium school in Delhi. The way they say words like 'cheers', 'papa', 'London' or 'fashion' is very different. I observed those little nuances, recorded them talking and listened to their accent. All this helped me get into the skin of the character. Plus, I had to lose all the muscles because I had just done Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. I started doing yoga, became a vegan and in the process lost 10kg. My purpose wasn't to lose weight, my purpose was to lose the muscularity so that she looks like a 17-year-old but in the process I lost weight.

How much did you personally identify with your character?

I don't identify with my character at all actually. Only one thing is common - we both are big time dreamers and that is it.

Pataakha, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota and now Angrezi Medium, your choice of films definitely seems unconventional. Is that a conscious choice?

Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota happened but for Pataakha I had auditioned. The first two films just set the tone for me. I never imagined myself debuting with a Vishal Bhardwaj film but it just happened to me. It has just changed my philosophy and I decided I won't play safe. I'll do what I want to do and won't go by the book. I really got my ethics right and I got into this because I am not content with one life, I want to live different lives of different characters. Whatever excites me and makes me jump out of the bed, I do that. I don't want the audience to put me in a bracket because I don't put myself in one. When I heard the Angrezi Medium auditions are happening, I literally begged to audition. I had loved Hindi Medium!

How is Homi Adajania as a director?

I think Homi is the coolest director one can ever work with. The environment that he creates on set, it's like a party. You don't even realise when you're done with your work! But that doesn't compromise anything because the scenes come out so well. You're not allowed to shout at Homi's set, that is one rule. Whenever any assistant director would shout, he'd say, 'Not on my set'. That creates a really positive environment on the set. The actors can really act because he sets the mood for it. If there's a serious scene, he'll make sure no one is talking or chit chatting, or people are laughing if there's a comedy scene. He never used to check the monitor, he'd sit cross-legged next to the camera in front of the actors and watch a scene. He's so honest as a person himself that he can catch on anything that is false. That's why in his films, no matter how the script has been written, he'd always find a connect. There'd always be something authentic about it. To work with him so early in my career, I couldn't be more grateful.

How easy or difficult was it for you to portray the father-daughter bond with Irrfan Khan on screen?

It wasn't that tough because I could connect him to my father. I'm from Delhi and I had no connections in the industry. I got called for an audition and it was he who had come with me to Bombay. He would stand outside the offices and arrange food for me when I was giving auditions. When I got the television show (Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi on Colors TV), he just asked me whether it'd make me happy. When I said yes, he didn't ask me anything else and within three days I moved here and started shooting. It was my father who had unclipped my wings and let me fly. So yes, I could relate to the core of it but it was Irrfan sir who gave me the comfort to play the character. He gave me the respect and freedom as a co-actor so much! He treated me as an equal and never imposed any vision that he had for a scene. He could have easily told me what to do but he didn't, I had the artistic freedom and we did the scenes organically. I think I've become an even bigger fan of his after this. I think that's the reason he is where he is because he treats you as an equal no matter how young or new you're in the industry.

You apparently cried after watching the trailer of Angrezi Medium?

Yes, because it didn't hit me instantly that this is happening to me. It has a downside to it because I don't get to celebrate the moment but the upside is that I don't get intimidated when I perform my scene. I just think about the character. But it was right after I watched the Angrezi Medium trailer and the credits were rolling in, that I realised I'm living my dream and I couldn't stop my tears. After that, whatever songs have come out I've cried because now it is sinking in that it actually happened!

What would be your biggest personal takeaway from shooting Angrezi Medium?

Courage. After watching Irrfan sir's courage... I mean he shot for the film without showing anybody what he was going through. He was just a student on set, he was learning every single day. He was approaching the film as if it's his first film. He was putting in so much of layering and depth. He treated me equally, like a fellow co-actor and not someone who is new. So, my takeaway would be his courage, to always be a learner and treating the other person equally no matter how big you become.

What are you working on next?

My next project is Shiddat which is different from what I have done. It’s a love story and I play a swimmer.