Shraddha Kapoor on training for Amole Gupte's Saina biopic and the Prabhas-starrer trilingual for which she is learning Telugu
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 24, 2017)

Over 4000 Goans queued up to catch a glimpse of Shraddha Kapoor, who was hard to miss at the sea-facing Bioscope Village in Panjim. The 30-year-old actress, accompanied by aunt Padmini Kolhapure, was to meet Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and inaugurate a mobile theatre at an Entertainment Society of Goa event. Also present at the event were filmmaker Subhash Ghai.

During the three-hour visit to the state, Shraddha crooned "Galliyaan" for her fans and binged on Goan delicacies with her actress-aunt. "This reminds me of the time we filmed Aashiqui 2 here," she gushed. Her schedule may have been choc-o-bloc but Shraddha reveals to Mirror that she is on a month-long break from Amole Gupte's biopic on badminton ace Saina Nehwal, for which she had been undergoing rigorous training till recently. "The sport is just amazing. It makes me feel energised, alive and also de-stressed. But recently, I injured my foot so I am on a break from badminton. I will resume practice as soon as I get the all-clear from the doctor," she adds.

Then, there's the Prabhas-starrer, the Tamil-Telugu-Hindi trilingual Saaho, which is being shot simultaneously in all the three languages with Shraddha dubbing for her own dialogue in Telugu. "I am enjoying the process of delivering my own lines in a different language. I find it easier because I speak Marathi, thanks to my mom (Shivangi Kapoor) and aunts. Also, growing up in a bit of a cocktail set-up of Punjabis (father Shakti Kapoor's side) and Maharashtrians, one tends to pick up words from different languages. I am ready to dub in the other South Indian languages too. If my director (Sujeeth) asks me, I'm up for it," Shraddha asserts.

The actress shoots down reports that suggested she had reservations about the film before coming on board. "Not at all," she is quick on the uptake, adding, "I said 'yes' immediately and was thrilled with the narration. It's a fabulous script."

Her last four releases — Rock On 2, OK Jaanu, Haseena Parker and Half Girlfriend — were lavishly-mounted productions that failed to live up to expectations at the box-office. Quite uncharacteristically for an actress, Shraddha doesn't avoid the topic. "My initial films — Aashiqui 2, EK Villain, and, even a year ago Baaghi — did phenomenally well. So anything that does not match up to those numbers gets viewed as a project that fell short," she reasons, subsequently recalling how she was ready to walk away from Bollywood after her debut film, Teen Patti, tanked. "But I stuck it out and worked really hard. Regardless how my films fared, the love I have received is priceless. Ups and down are a part of life but I just hope I keep making everyone proud," she signs off with a smile.