Mrunal Thakur: No one should be able to define my abilities

Mumbai, Nov 10  Actress Mrunal Thakur refuses to get pigeonholed. She says no one should be able to define her abilities or have a set idea of her capabilities.

The actress, who made her mark with roles in “Super 30” and “Batla House” last year, has “Jersey” opposite Shahid Kapoor and “Toofan” co-starring Farhan Akhtar coming up in Bollywood. Films like “Aankh Micholi” with Abhimanyu Dassani, “Pippa” co-starring Ishaan Khatter and the “Thadam” remake are also coming up.

“With the changing landscape of content today, what really helps actors is their range. A filmmaker shouldn’t be able to associate you with any particular type. Fluidity and versatility are crucial for any artiste working in this day and age. With the set ideas of heroes and heroines and villains gone, we are all competing for an audience’s attention equally. And we are catering to an evolved audience that’s simultaneously consuming a lot of international content. You have to be bang for their buck,” said Mrunal.

She thinks it’s important to explore various genres, stories and characters.

“I consciously don’t repeat myself and that often leads to letting go off some great stories. But it’s a careful process of choosing that I don’t get stereotyped. I refuse to get pigeonholed. It’s my job as an actor to convince my audience and my filmmakers that I will put in the effort to seamless fit into their story. Also, doing the same character or similar ones could easily end up in saturation,” said the actress.

“I try to keep my choices diverse. No two films or two roles of mine should be comparable to one another. ‘Toofan’ and ‘Jersey’ are as different as chalk and cheese. No one should be able to define my abilities or have a set idea of my capabilities. I can do it all and that’s my job as an actor, to deliver on what the story demands,” she added.