Mrunal Thakur: I learnt from Hrithik Roshan that as an actor you must worship your body

Mrunal Thakur on fi nding inspiration in her co-star and working with Demi Moore and Freida Pinto on a fi lm about child-trafficking

Mrunal Thakur, who plays Hrithik Roshan’s lady love in Super 30, math whiz Anand Kumar’s biopic, remembers that when she bagged this coveted role she wept with joy, so delighted was she to be working with Bollywood’s Greek God. “After seeing the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Queen, I’m also a huge fan of Vikas (Bahl, director) so to be also collaborating with him in Super 30 was a dream come true,” the 25-year-old actress says, admitting that even her parents didn’t know she was in the running for the fi lm until the news leaked out. “It’s a big deal for them too that I’m in a fi lm with Hrithik Roshan,” she adds.

While Mrunal can’t reveal much about her character, she is quick to point out that it is nothing like her other reel-life avatars, in Ekta Kapoor’s daily soap, Kumkum Bhagya, or the two Marathi films she featured in, including the 2014 drama Surajya and the Ajay Devgn-produced historical, Vitti Dandu. “She is a city girl based in Patna,” Mrunal informs, going on to rave about her 44-year-old co-star. “Whenever I would go to Hrithik’s vanity van to chat or rehearse lines, I’d see him working out or watching inspirational videos. One thing that I’ve learnt from him is that as an actor you have to worship your body.”

She recalls that if the call time was 10 am, her leading man would hit the gym early, then go back after pack-up. “Once he invited me to work out with him and now I’m focussed on my fitness thanks to Hrithik. He has become an inspiration and has always been really encouraging about my work.”