Mouni Roy - "You Can't Compare My Character In Romeo Akbar Walter With That Of Gold"

Last year, Mouni Roy made her Bollywood debut with the 100 Crore Club success Gold. The period film set in 1948 had her play a Bengali character who was married to Akshay Kumar. Now in her upcoming release Romeo Akbar Walter, she is playing John Abraham's love interest and yet again, the film has a period setting to it, albeit a bit closer as the year of action is 1971.

Considering the fact that both Romeo Akbar Walter as well as Gold are set in a period era, was that also an enticing factor for Mouni Roy to pick the two films?

"See, when you are reading a script then all these things add up as well. That said, it all boils down to the character that you are playing eventually. Most of the times, more than the period setting it is the story and the character that matter. Everything else is some sort of cushioning and that helps too. Once you get the story and the characterization right, which basically is the real substance, then things like period setting, costumes, styling etc. are the things that you work on later," elaborates Mouni.

A popular face in the world of television, courtesy successful serials like Naagin, Devon Ke Dev... Mahadev, Kyunki... Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi... and Mahayoddha Rama, Mouni isn't new to the world of glitz and glamour. That said, she seems to be turning out to be a hot favorite amongst filmmakers when it comes to playing a girl in a period era.

"Well, you can't compare my character in Romeo Akbar Walter with that of Gold. They are both very different," says Mouni, "They are not even close to each other. Monobina was very loud in Gold. On the other hand Shraddha is very subtle. Moreover, the whole purpose of both these films is totally different. Gold was a sports drama whereas Romeo Akbar Walter is an espionage thriller. There is no common ground between the two films."

Meanwhile, Mouni is doing well to find a good ground in the world of Bollywood, courtesy the kind of choices that she is making. After Romeo Akbar Walter, she would be seen in Made In China and Brahmastra this year. Then there is Bole Chudiyan as well which takes her in a different zone.

So is that a conscious call that she has made to pick and choose unconventional roles with a wide variety of co-stars, be it Rajkummar Rao, Ranbir Kapoor or Nawazuddin Siddiqui?

"I can't say that because I am not that privileged or lucky to be able to take such a call," says Mouni in a matter of fact tone, "I am pretty much on my own and taking my own journey. I genuinely believe that there is no shortcut to success. You have to work hard towards that. You have to be honest, no matter how big or small your part is. You have to just keep going."

This is the reason why she chose to opt out of the third installment of Naagin which was being planned at the same time when there were film offers coming her way.

"It is better to concentrate totally on one thing at a time instead of trying to balance on both mediums," says Mouni, "I have been doing television for over a decade and was really happy with what I was doing. I was rightly positioned as an actress, and even getting to dance on television when I wanted to. This is the reason why when it came to films, I had to pick something that was really good. Romeo Akbar Walter is a good addition to that and I am glad to be a part of the film."

One now looks forward to the outcome once the Robby Grewal directed film, which is produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Ajay Kapoor, Vanessa Valia and Gary Grewal, releases all over this Friday.