Raashii Khanna: I get bored of playing the same pretty girl being loved, not really making a mark

Raashii Khanna’s villainous turn in Rudra: The Edge of Darkness has not just surprised the viewers, but herself too. She confesses that she had her set of apprehensions though, considering how audiences might have reacted negatively to this shift from the goody-good roles.

“My character was very grey. Even though you want to play other roles, the Indian milieu will judge you, they can really hate you. So somewhere inside me I was also like if they hate me, I will have to overcome it by probably making them love me in some way,” she says.

The 31-year-old adds that it was a risk. Khanna elaborates, “It was a very risky to play a girl like her, and enter the Hindi space with that character. I am quite a risk taker that way, I was waiting for a role like this. You get bored of playing the same girl- pretty, being loved, and not really making a mark, apart from love stories. It’s very rare that you get to play a character like mine. I had to convince myself. We are actors and nothing without risks. If they hated it, I would have moved on.”

Set to be seen next with Shahid Kapoor in the web show directed by Raj and DK and Yodhha with Sidharth Malhotra, Khanna says she hasn’t had time to absorb the reactions for Rudra.

“I am in the zen mode, I am not able to sink it in. Maybe I am constantly shooting so I don’t think I have had the time to look at it. My family and friends are shocked. They have already seen me in south films, where I was always the girl-next-door, but suddenly they went ‘oh my God’ after seeing me as a vamp. It was great coming from them. Even when watching the show, I myself didn’t believe I did that. That’s not who I am. The only way you can grow as an actor is by pushing boundaries. I am on the correct path. Even my directors in Yodhha said I look completely different,” she chuckles.