Kangana Ranaut has always had an outspoken and bold image, while Shahid Kapoor has kept to himself. They will be seen in Vishal Bhardwajs Rangoon. Kangana plays a fiesty young actress in British-era 40s, Shahid plays an army officer. She has had a trail of successes with Queen and Tanu Weds Manu; he has hits such as Haider and Udta Punjab. They love to experiment with their roles.

My career has been a rollercoaster one from the beginning, and I have never been off balance. There was a lot of mud-slinging, but then exs will always bitch about you. I have a lot of dreams and goals. I want to do something different and good all the time.

No actor can be satisfied with his achievements. I cant just stop here and say I have got everything I have wanted. Theres a lot more to my life than three National Awards. I have to better, says Kangana.

Shahid says he is at a good stage of his career. The real journey is to bring credibility.

Popularity is something you have to look forward to; you cant run after it.

You need to be a good actor and participate in good cinema.

You need to be taken seriously; you cant be someone who is jumping around.

Theres no longevity in that. Earlier if you wanted to do a music video or photo shoot, you had to go and drop your pictures and give auditions. Today you can upload them on Instagram and be noticed.

Rangoon is Shahids third film with Bhardwaj. When I work with him, I am on my toes. Its been a 10-year journey with him. I met him for the first time for Kaminey, and when two heavy objects meet, there is a collision. Haider was an experimental film. Rangoon is a big film, he says.

The film is set during WW II, and has references to Adolf Hitler. Its a satire and Hitler has been shown in a funny way. Its more of a love story. Its a great script, says Kangana, who plays Julia in the movie. She says there was a lot of detailing in Rangoon.

Vishal has done a lot of research. He took care of all details and created a city dating back to the 40s and even took care of the skyline. I had a lot of discussions with him about my attire, hair, make-up and fabrics I would be wearing. I had to understand that world and the period it was set in.

It was different then. Our country was run by outsiders, and you had to keep that in mind. It is the love story of an actress, and I had to create that period in my mind, how they said their dialogues in those days.

This will be the first time Kangana will be seen doing stunts. I have a few stunt scenes as stunt actresses were popular then. I learnt horse riding. We talk about women empowerment now and appreciate such movies.

There were more women-oriented movies in those days. Women were shown beating up 10 goons. They were superwomen in movies then. Unfortunately in the 80s, the environment changed as money flowed in from the underworld and women were projected as sex objects in movies. Its changing now, she says.

Shahid says he is playing Nawab Malik, an Army officer in pre-independent India. He is a patriot and he has got job in the British Army. He is confused. Its a heroic and likeable character and he does things larger than life.

Explains Kangana: For me its important to understand the psyche of the character Ill be essaying. I dont do superficial roles. It takes me time to understand her physical appearance and dialect of the character. I can go to any lengths for my role, but Aamir (Khan) is a better example of that. Hats off to him for going to that extreme in Dangal.

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Love in the times of a world war - The New Indian Express