Actor Rakul Preet Singh has already had two theatrical releases this year with Attack and Runway 34. Though the films had all the ingredients to become smash hits, right from A-list stars to ambitious scales and colossal budgets, they had a rather underwhelming performance at the box office. While Singh was initially perturbed, she remains unfazed and has drowned herself in her upcoming projects.
In an exclusive interaction with News18, she reveals, “I would lie if I say that it didn’t bother me at all. It affected me but didn’t deter me. I believe in this saying that people trying to bury me don’t know that I’m a seed. Nothing breaks me.”
An optimist, she feels that there’s no formula to a successful film and states, “It helped me get a better understanding of what’s working and what’s not. It also helped me retrospect and reflect. Nevertheless, I’m very proud of them. In the post-pandemic world, there are multiple reasons behind a film not working. But I don’t think that box office dictates the quality of a film.”
Singh chose to concentrate on the love that her way for her performance as a pilot in Runway 34, where she shared screen space with actors Ajay Devgn and Amitabh Bachchan. She says, “The film was extremely well-reviewed. Everybody who watched it told me that they didn’t know why it didn’t work. It performed extremely well on OTT. As an actor, the best you can do is give it your all, and luckily, my performance in the film was appreciated. My takeaway was the experience of doing the film, the learning and my growth as a person and an actor.”
So, does she think about box office numbers? “I consciously make an effort to not be affected with them. We should go past it because everything is so dicey now. A few other films also met with a similar fate,” the 31-year-old states.
Unlike many Bollywood actors, who are foraying into the South film industries today, Singh started her career with a Kannada film titled Gilli (2009). Over the years, she has carved a niche for herself in Telugu and Tamil cinema with Venkatadri Express (2013), a raging success, and Loukyam and Current Theega (both 2014), which won her critical acclaim, among many others.
While she lauds the increased collaboration between Bollywood and South film industries in today’s times, she opines that this trend is not a new one. “The content made in a particular film industry has been consumed all over the country for years. There are a lot of dubbed South films, which people in different parts of the country have always been watching. South films get remade in Bollywood and vice versa. Nevertheless, it’s great that actors and filmmakers across South and Hindi film industries are coming together and making big films. I’m very happy that it’s happening,” she says.
With pan-Indian films like Pushpa: The Rise (2021), KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR creating ripples at the domestic and worldwide box office, the Sardar Ka Grandson (2021) and De De Pyaar De (2019) actor feels like they have paved the path for a brighter future for the Indian film industry. “To be honest, I don’t understand the word ‘pan-India’. India’s one country. Our strength lies in our diversity and if we bring the best of every world together, we can create cinema that’s at par with international standards. So, that way, I’m very happy to be a part of this so-called pan-Indian culture,” remarks Singh, who will next be seen in psychological thriller Cuttputlli along with actor Akshay Kumar.
