Did you grow up watching your dad’s movies? 
Yes. Mr India is the best film a child can watch. I have seen it 20 million times. Also Ram Lakhan, I love the jhatka-matkas. I love Madhuri Dixit. I love Tezaab too.

Do you have a favourite performance? 
Pukar, Eeshwar, Who Saat Din. I can’t choose, he’s different in everything. Like you said, he’s versatile.

Did he sit you down and have a father-daughter chat when it was decided that ‘My daughter is going to be an actress’?  
Yes he did. He calls me Giraffe. He said I want you know that what you’re doing is not all glamour; it’s a lot of hard work. It’s a combination of physical and mental labour. The reason why I’m letting you do it is because I know you’re capable but I want you to be aware of the hard work that goes into it.

Your mother wasn’t too thrilled about it. Has she gotten used to it now?  
Yes, she has gotten used to it. She wanted me to study, I’m still studying, go abroad, get married, get a nine to five job. She’s a banker’s daughter, studied economics. But that didn’t happen.

You said you’re still studying. 
Yes, I’m doing my BA through Bombay University correspondence in Political Science and Economics, what my mom wants me to do. Also, I love doing all that I have studied History.

Smart girl, you’re keeping both parents happy.  
Yes. I have to; I have to live in that house.

You have younger brother. Did he and your friends rag you when it was decided you were going to act?
My sister Riya makes most fun of me. She is a great mimic. When she heard about it, she said ‘Too good, you can do full chameli roles.’ She calls me Champa. So they were all like, ‘You’re going to be singing and dancing and crying and making an emotional mess of yourself’.

When the movie finally comes out, apart from Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who’s reaction are you dreading? 
My brother Harsh’s reaction. He’s very correct in what he says. He’s a 17-year-old boy so he doesn’t care about my feelings. You know how brothers are, they are just like, you know, whatever, and you suck. Brothers never praise so if he praises me, it’ll be like maybe I did something right. I know my mother and father will like me because they are biased but I want my brother to like me. I hope he does.

So fingers crossed for that one. Few people know that Saawariya is not your first brush with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. You assisted him on the sets of Black. Ranbir said that was a very calculated move on his part because he eventually wanted to work with Sanjay as an actor. Was it a similar move on your part? 
If I wanted to act with him, I would not have gone as a 90-kilo girl. I would have done my eyebrows, not worn glasses and at least groomed myself a little bit before going. That was not my intention, I was too young and I wanted to go to university but it was destiny or fate I don’t know but I wanted to work with him.

So which film of his made you want to work with him?
Devdas. I saw Khamoshi and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and I loved them. But when I saw Devdas I thought it was filmmaking at its best. Every time I see it, I see something different. It’s so beautifully adorned. I love anything beautiful. Firstly, the characters are flawed and to have them in such a fantastical way, it makes such great cinema and drama. The red, oh, I just love drama. I was like, ‘I just want to be with this man, somewhere, even in the vicinity.’ Rani (Mukherji) had come to see me in Singapore on holiday and she told me she was doing Black. She’s a great family friend and my favorite actor. So I told her I want to meet him and work with him. Then I came back from Singapore and told my dad I want to work with him and asked him to make the call, be Anil Kapoor for once. So he did it and he was shocked that I wanted to work with him. So I assisted him and the first day I went to him, he told me, ‘You should be an actor.’

You didn’t think so. 
No. But I said if you think I should be an actor then yes. I think he’s the first person who saw me. All my friends are still shocked that I’m an actor. But he’s the one who truly sees me as I am.

What kind of preparation did you put in once it was decided you were going to act in the film? Apparently you were not happy with the way you looked? 
That’s a delicate way of putting it. Sir always said ‘You’re very beautiful, you look like an Ajanta painting, you’re fat and nice and sweet.’ But I realized I cannot be 90 kilos and face the camera because it’s not aesthetically nice for a heroine to be that fat. So I said I better lose weight if I’m doing his film, I owe him that much. So I lost the weight, did my eyebrows, took care of my skin. I took dance classes, diction classes, acting classes, everything. It was fun to learn all that; it wasn’t like going to school.

When you found out that your co-star was going to be Ranbir, a childhood friend and a co-assistant from Black, was it comforting?  
Yes because Ranbir is a childhood friend and one of my best friends. There’s a comfort level that’s always been there. So there was no competition. I know he’s going to be a huge star so maybe I can get some mileage out of that too. So if the movie does well and he’s going to be a huge star, maybe something will happen for me also.