Radhikka Madan has done a stellar job with her spunky and ambitious character Rani in Sarfira. Now playing in theatres and an adaptation of the Tamil hit Soorarai Pottru, the film has the 29-year-old powerhouse performer grabbing attention whenever she is on screen, even with veteran colleague Akshay Kumar in the same frame. A t2 chat with Radhikka.

Your performance in Sarfira has been singled out for praise. What have you been hearing the most?

I have been getting a lot of love for the performance. I am getting a lot of messages and people are commenting on the chemistry and the pairing (of her and Akshay Kumar). When the trailer came out, people were skeptical, but once they have watched the film, they have realised that the chemistry between us is very good.

Being Rani was a challenge because Aparna (Balamurali) had done such a fine job with Bommi (in Soorarai Pottru, of which Sarfira is an adaptation). I wanted to make it my own, I wanted to put in my own masala, my own zeal. I tried to make the character a part of me.

Honestly, I was apprehensive about how people are going to perceive that. But to just see the love that I have got in the last three days has been a validation.

What aspects of doing this film and playing this character made you most skeptical?

I was talking about skepticism more from the audience point of view. It didn’t come from within me because right from Day One, I had huge faith on the makers of Sarfira. They are at the stature where they could have got anybody to play Rani. But for them to take this call and sign me required a lot of trust.

I knew that once people watched the film, it (the 27-year age difference between Akshay and her) was not going to be a problem. That has what has happened with a few of the reviews also commenting on the beautiful screen chemistry we share and our fresh pairing.

Given your spunk and your happy disposition, one would think that Rani is a lot like you...

The character of Rani came to me at a time when I had just finished shooting Sanaa (directed by Sudhanshu Saria) which is a really dark drama. At that time, having lived the (eponymous) character in Sanaa, I was at my lowest and in a very dark space. I would sit in my room all the time and cry randomly. At that time, Rani came to me as a breath of fresh air and she energised me. She took out every ounce of darkness from within me and filled me with her passion, light and spunk.

Like Rani, I have always chased my dreams. I didn’t take a ‘no’, I was always persistent. I knew that my dreams were worthy enough and I just went for it. In that sense, Rani and I are very similar.

Now that I think about it, she actually made me remember who I was, something which I had lost within me. I am realising that only now when I am speaking to you. I was a lot like Rani which I had forgotten all these years and in the process of going through all these different journeys.

Did you and Akshay have to work extra hard to conjure the chemistry you share in Sarfira?

It was just there in the script. Rani and Vir (Akshay’s character) are not attracted to each other on the basis of how they look. They were attracted to each other’s vision and ambition, they had respect for one another and that eventually translated into love. They had a common goal of making things happen for themselves and feeling empowered and worthy.

Even though the people around them didn’t believe in their dreams, Rani and Vir had total faith on each others’ ability to make it. That was the point of attraction between the two. It is a very deep attraction. They feel seen in the other person’s eyes and for that you don’t need to know how that person looks and what their age is.

Your character is a strong voice in Sarfira and is not limited to only playing a support system to her man in his quest to fulfil his dreams. That is quite a departure from the average Indian biopic. Did that also play a part in you wanting to be Rani?

For sure! I didn’t want to be a prop in the film. The credit for who Rani is goes to Sudha Kongara ma’am (director). She came in with a female gaze which didn’t allow Rani to be just another female character.

She knew that Rani is as important as Vir, her dreams are equally important. In being her husband’s support system, Rani also empowered him in many ways. She loaned him money, she took care of all the household expenses when his airline failed to take off.... The good thing is that she wasn’t cocky about it. She supported him and respected him through his ups and downs and despite all his faults. That is so beautiful and I feel that only a female director could pull that off this well.

I think secretly, Sudha ma’am’s favourite character is Rani (laughs). She is very similar to Rani, she has her spirit. In fact, she would be quite possessive about how Rani was portrayed. Whenever I would try and play Rani a little mellow, she would tell me: ‘No, no she is not like that!’

Before Sarfira, people would call me a ‘Delhi chick’. I talk a lot in Hindi and I am very proud to say that I am a Delhi girl. I don’t speak neutral Hindi... my Hindi has a particular accent and uses a certain lingo.

With Sarfira, I wanted to change that image that people have of me. I picked up Marathi and I worked hard on it. In the Netflix film Ray, I had a different accent and I played a bindaas character called Didi. For Pataakha, I learnt the UP accent. For Sarfira, the biggest compliment came my way after the screening of the film in Pune and there were many people in the audience who started speaking to me in Marathi! They refused to believe I wasn’t a native Maharashtrian.

So whenever people give me tags, I like to break them. I love challenges and I put my heart and soul into them in order to prove people wrong.

In a relatively short time, you have built an enviable and varied filmography. Do you think the audience now expects a certain something from every Radhikka Madan role?

After I did Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota and Pataakha, I remember having a conversation with Vasan sir (Vasan Bala), who was my first director (on Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota) and telling him my plans of how I was looking at shaping my career and what my craft is going to be. I said I am going to do this project and that project so that people perceive me in a certain way. He told me just one thing: ‘Stop thinking’. He told me that how things had worked out for me was not cerebral... I was just following my heart. From then on, I have stopped making plans or thinking what a Radhikka Madan film means.

I just love playing different lives. I try to bring out the truth in whatever I play. Every role I take up comes with the promise that it won’t be anything that you have seen me do before. Pataakha to Angrezi Medium to Sarfira have all been different because I get bored with one life. I am just following my heart and what feels truthful to me. If the audience has seen any of my previous performances, they can walk into any new project of mine with the guarantee that it will different and entertaining.

Do your days doing saas-bahu TV feel like a different era now?

Not really. I feel like it happened two-three years ago. Time passes so quickly when you are in the entertainment business. I still feel that I have just come to Bombay to start working.

Is there a certain type of character you want to manifest for yourself?

Honestly, I want to play an antagonist, something that I haven’t got to play so far because most people think I have an innocent face. When I am given a script which has a strong villain, I always ask if I can play that role. I am manifesting a dark, layered antagonist who people don’t expect me to play.