Parineeti Chopra is the newest darling of Bollywood. Sreya Basu chats up with the bubbly actress in Mumbai on films, weight loss and more

You have lost oodles of weight recently. Is it for any film?
I was anyway planning to lose weight for a long time. For Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (2011) I had to be a little chubby and then I started losing weight for Ishaqzaade (2012). I wanted to look a little better, so I decided to tone down my body. But it's not for Hasi Toh Phasi (with Sidharth Malhotra). There are rumours that I have lost so and so kilos, I just want to lose as much weight as possible and look as good as I can in my next film.

What is more important - looking good or good acting?
I think an actress should be a combination of both. I know there are certain actresses who are very comfortable with their size and only want to concentrate on acting. But I would like to do both.

Will you wear a bikini on screen?
I will surely wear a bikini on screen one day when I will have the body for it.


Do you believe wearing black makes one look thin?
(Laughs) If you ask me, I will say I don't have a problem in wearing any colour except brown.

Did you always want to be an actress?
I never wanted to be an actor and used to believe that actors were useless. I would have been a banker. Now I believe that actors are the best.

What is your dream role?
None. Any good script is good for me. But I can watch DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, 1995) over and over again.


What kind of a person are you?
I am very impatient. I want things to happen in two minutes.

How do you react when people come up to you with pick-up lines?
It's stupid. Once someone came up to me and asked: `Did it hurt?` I said: `What?` He said: `When you dropped down from heaven?` I felt like giving him a tight slap.

Are you a make-up person?
No. I just use a lip balm. I don't use make-up off camera. I am very lazy that way ... I don't want to waste time applying and removing make-up. I just want to go to sleep when I return home at night. Every day my mother (Reena Chopra) will coax me to use this beauty tip and that, but I never listen to her.


Many of your contemporaries and immediate seniors are on Botox for that ultra-glam look. Will you too try that in future?
No, never. I am too scared of the process. I would have done a lot of things by now (hinting at cosmetic surgery) if I were not scared. But I am always scared of these things.

What is your favourite holiday destination?
I love holidaying in London.

What do you read in leisure?
Any Dan Brown or Sidney Sheldon book will do for me.


What are the must-haves in you bag?
I always have perfume, deodorant, face clean up and phone charger in my bag. But my biggest issue is to remember to carry that bag.