Parineeti Chopra: Every time I followed what others were doing, it didn’t work for me

The last 10 years of Parineeti Chopra’s career have seen her dabble in a variety of roles, some of which brought her accolades, while others were not received well by her fans.

According to the actor, the reason she had a dull phase in her career was because she compromised her individuality by pursuing roles similar to what her contemporaries were doing.

“Whenever I have tried to follow a formula or what someone else has told me that I should follow what others were doing. Every time I did that, it didn’t work for me. I was not satisfied with that work and neither were my critics, audiences or fans,” she tells us.

The actor started her career in 2011 with Ladies vs Ricky Bahl and went on to star in films like Ishaqzaade (2012), Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), Hasee Toh Phasee (2014), Daawat-e-Ishq (2014), Kill Dil (2014), Meri Pyaari Bindu (2017) , Namaste England (2018).

“My biggest success at the start of my career was my individuality and the fact that I did things differently and whenever I lost that did something which was formulaic it didn’t work,” the 33-year-old explains, adding, “In the first four years of my career, I was doing something [that brought my individuality], and in the next four years, I was doing certain things (following the herd). But today, I am in a position to be able to choose which four years I want to follow.”

The actor is happy that 2021 helped her choose the right path with films such as The Girl on the Train, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar and Saina, and she managed to bounce back. “That is the most wonderful achievement,” she quips.

Meanwhile, Chopra adds that she has also, in all these years, made a lot of changes and tweaks to her looks and physicality. Ask her if the decision was a sign that she was succumbing to the industry’s established rules requiring female actors to look a certain way, and she says, ““Not in terms of looks, not at all! That is something that I wanted to do for myself. I have been doing it even before I became an actor. I haven’t gotten fitter because the world wanted me to do it. My journey towards fitness and changing my look started even before I became an actress. I became an actor in the middle of it and that is when people saw the changes in me.”

The actor, who will be next seen in Sooraj Barjatya’s Unchai and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal, continues, “A lot of people misunderstood that as industry pressure. Yes, because of the industry pressure I did it faster but I was doing it anyway. I think a lot of people think that I caved in and I did it because someone told me, but that is not the case.”