Not cheated if mum doesn't cast me: Konkana

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She's a thinking man's sex symbol and in her new film Luck By Chance, Konkana Sen Sharma plays a struggling actress. Right now she is shooting for a film by Karan Johar - an unlikely choice for her you'd think. Earlier this week, CNN-IBN Entertainment Editor Rajeev Masand chatted with Konkana about delivering her best performances in her mother, Aparna Sen's films and why she wasn't cast in her mother's new film.

Rajeev Masand: Konkana Sen Sharma welcome to Now Showing.

Konkana Sen Sharma: Thank you.

Rajeev Masand: Konkana tell me what kind of preparation did you need to play a struggling actress in your new film Luck By Chance - you know the body language, the mindset?

Konkana Sen Sharma: You know it's pretty awful to say this, but I didn't do any preparation. Maybe I should have. But we didn't have too much prep time also because I was into something before that and I just managed to finish that and the way we managed to work out the dates and all. Zoya and I did some reading and Farhan also, as and when we could manage the time. We also had a look test - which is very important, because whenever I am trying to get into a character, I find the look tests very helpful because these are the choices the character makes regarding the clothes etc, so I think that is important. With Zoya the thing is she is very clear about what she wants.

Rajeev Masand: As someone who hasn't struggled herself in the conventional sense of the word, could you empathise with this character?

Konkana Sen Sharma: Not in that regard. I empathised with the other aspects of her life for example her disappointments. It's written in a very moving way, you feel sympathetic towards her. I didn't empathise with her in the sense that she came from a small town, she came from Kanpur and she is very loud, not terribly sophisticated or anything. She wants to make it big and she makes certain choices along the way, whether you agree with her or not. All that I didn't necessarily identify with.

Rajeev Masand: Now who would have imagined that we would see you in a Karan Johar film. Of course the film you are doing with him, Wake Up Sid, is a much more realistic film and stripped off all the frills that you see in a Karan Johar film. And you play a character that one would never expect to see in a Karan Johar film - a middle-class girl.

Konkana Sen Sharma: Ya, a middle-class girl from Kolkatta who's a little older than the hero. It's Ranbir Kapoor's coming of age story and I would say my character is the catalyst. She comes from out of town and she thinks she is someone who she isn't and ultimately she realises that she is on shaky ground herself.

Rajeev Masand: What was it like working with Ranbir Kapoor? Both of you come from very different schools in the sense of the kind of films that you do.

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Konkana Sen Sharma: Ya that everyone knows and I think that a lot of people are excited by that very fact because we are so diverse and our backgrounds are so diverse. But working with him is so easy maybe because - and I keep saying this to him and to others - he's worked behind the camera and he really knows what's going on and it's quite intimidating because sometimes the cameraman would ask him a question as to where the entry should be or what the look should be and he knows where to take the light, how to adjust the camera etc much like Farhan. And I am completely clueless, despite the fact that I have done quite a few movies, I really don't know - where to stand and how to take the light and all. I just do what I am told and half the time I forget that also.

Rajeev Masand: What are the films that changed your life? I don't mean your own - the ones that inspired you and made you want to be an actress.

Konkana Sen Sharma: Oh wow! I never really wanted to be an actor in that sense but, when I was very young I think it would have been Dead Poet's Society or maybe Reality Bites - you know the angst you feel at that age. Now I don't think so much of these films anymore. This is like asking what is my favourite film and that is very difficult.

Rajeev Masand: Okay, let me simplify. Is there a film that you saw recently that made you go, 'I wish I was in this'.

Konkana Sen Sharma: Jab We Met I liked very much. I mean I don't necessarily think I could have done that, but I liked it very much. Om Shanti Om I liked very much, Lagey Raho Munnabhai is I think fabulous and I thought Oye Lucky Lucky Oye was great.

Rajeev Masand: You couldn't see yourself in these films?

Konkana Sen Sharma: I think I could see myself in some of these films. But it was not like I felt that the actors had done a bad job in any of these. I thought all of them worked in totality - the actors, the direction, the visuals - everything came together for these movies.

Rajeev Masand: Now the popular belief - and it seems to have been for sometime - is that Konkana's best work seem to come out of in her mum's films. Whether it's a 15 Park Avenue or a Mr and Mrs Iyer. Is that fair?

Konkana Sen Sharma: I think so. Because people remember me most for Mr and Mrs Iyer and Page 3 actually. Mr and Mrs Iyer got me my national award. Even 15 Park Avenue - not a lot of people saw it and related to it much - but I definitely think that was one of my most difficult and most interesting roles, one that I really, really enjoyed. And I that's because my mother really pushes me. She can make anyone act.

Rajeev Masand: Do you feel cheated then when she doesn't cast you?

Konkana Sen Sharma: No. You know with Japanese Wife what happened was that she wanted to cast me, then I was busy, then she said I think Raima (Sen) will suit this more and then I said to her, 'then you say I am a good actor'. All that happened but more in jest than in anything else.

Rajeev Masand: Well good luck, looking forward to seeing much more of you.

Konkana Sen Sharma: Thank you.

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