"I prefer dance over gym work outs." Parineeti Chopra's exclusive interview

The first thing you notice about Parineeti today is her glowing skin, toned up body & fitter self. Having completed a whirlwind year in 2014 with back-to-back releases, she took a step back to rest, regain her fitness & relax herself for some time. Currently in a blissful state of doing up her dream home, reading scripts at leisure & dancing till she drops, we catch up on the trimmer & happier Parineeti for a quick chat.

You’ve clearly lost a lot of weight. You look healthier & rested. And your skin is glowing! Tell us about you current work out and fitness regime.

Answer: I think that was the biggest learning for me from last year- not only making myself look better, but also to feel better. When we met the last time around Kill Dill, I was just so frustrated of being tired!

There is happy tired when you are busy and you feel really great; but I was not happy tired. I was just frustrated tired! I was not getting time to work on myself or getting sleep. Sometimes for 10 whole days I wouldn’t call my mom and she would ask ‘where are you!’ It was a very unhealthy way of working and I really want to put myself back into that groove.

To me, that didn’t just mean that I need to go to the gym. But just the amount of flights I was taking or the amount of travel etc; I wanted to ease up on that. So now I am just taking it slightly easy, reading scripts and eating healthy. I am working out. I’ve become mentally calmer & happier. I think that was very important. Now when I shoot an ad or step out for an event, I feel that I am looking different from last year!

So yeah I feel good! (Hums the ‘I Feel Good’ line).

Can you tell me specifics about your current work out? You’ve toned up in 4 months and seem to be enjoying this phase.

Answer: Most importantly, I am on no particular diet. I have worked with a specialist to tell me what suits my body in particular and that could be right from a chocolate to a biriyani, or chicken and eggs. Whatever suits my body type, I have gotten a list from them and I eat those. Diet wise I follow these options that are good for my skin, hair & health.

In terms of a work out, I am dancing a lot. I just hate going to the gym where I need to keep running on a treadmill for 30 minutes. I enjoy dancing 2-3 hours a day. To me, I prefer dance over gym work outs.

Sometimes, you really need to sit at a corner of your house and think of things that you want to do in your life. I thought for me, if anybody tells me stop eating chocolates or pizzas forever, that’s not going to work. So let me go out there, literally sit with a nutrition specialist and figure out what will work for me. Work out wise, however motivated I am, if I don’t enjoy it, I wont last.

Dancing is something I really like, as everyday is different. You concentrate on it and 2-3 hours of the day are gone. So it’s a great way of working out, and I think in another 2 months, I should look better.

During the promotions of ‘Kill Dill’ and ‘Dawaat E Ishq’ a section of the media often pointed out that you weren’t looking fit and focused on your weight. Considering the daily pressures that you live with as an actor, also in a business where the body image is so important, how do you keep yourself sane through such feedback? Did you get affected? 

Answer: It really depends from person to person. When somebody tells me that you aren’t looking good or are looking over weight, I really have to think of whether that is true. When the media was giving me feedback that I was not looking my best, I actually knew that they were right somewhere. I was complaining about that myself. So if you somewhere agree then I think the sanity question is completely out of the question. In my heart, I always did agree with such feedback but I really didn’t have the time to do anything right now. Also because I didn’t want to give an excuse so I can always say, don’t worry, I will see you in 3 months and I know I will look better.

So today, when they say, hey you are looking different,I know that I am looking better. So I think that sanity bit comes in play only when you know the feedback given to you is wrong. But they (the media) were not wrong. It was important for me to change that.

I did start on my fitness last year but then I got so busy that I was craving sleep. I couldn’t just go to the gym at that time. For me, I knew that this would need time.

Apart from travelling, what else do you do to unwind?

Answer: I love travel and that is the most important thing in my life. Otherwise, although this will sound really boring, I just like to shower, watch TV for a bit and do some Sudoku and go to sleep. It’s literally like that! I just need half an hour of no one talking to me. I need to unwind and go to sleep. Last year, I would sleep in the car and then reach home & go up and then go to sleep in just those clothes!

It was so unhealthy and I was constantly dazed! And everybody is like, no it’s great that you are busy but I personally am not that person. I need to be balanced. I need a day off and I require some time to travel. I am not used to so much limelight.

Now that you’ve had this time to yourself, tell us about your new home. When do you move in?

Answer: (Big Smiles and excited Aaaah!) Sooooon! Right now I am like a labourer myself in that house. I have to climb over the rubble, and all the bricks lying there right now. I also think that I know every carpenter in the city (laughs). But its my happy thing right now! I feel so good that I have my own house. I am doing it up. I pick up even the color of the floor tile. I should be able to move in within two months.

You’ve been reading scripts right? Are you considering anything yet?

Answer: For two months I took a complete break after ‘Kill Dill’ released. I was not thinking of scripts but just travelled and took time some off. While I am currently reading some scripts, I like a few but I do not LOVE anything yet. You know people are saying that, ‘Oh Parineeti has no films’; Its crazy for its just been four months since my last release. I am not in a hurry and I don’t want to do a film just to fill up my days.

What do you think didn’t work in favour of your final two releases? Interestingly though while ‘Dawaat E Ishq’ and ‘Kill Dill’ flopped, you were liked and didn’t face criticism. Do you think the films weren’t the best choices?

Answer: I have done six films so far, and the last two were the only flops. Even ‘Hassee to Phasee’, which was released with two relatively new actors (Sid and Me), it still did well. I have never had a flop before ‘Dawaat E Ishq’. I only had hits. In that flow of things, you end up signing a film, or taking up a brand or doing an event, which you later end up re thinking. I think it was a classic case of not doing the films that I was absolutely had to. Whether they were hits and flops, that won’t ever be in my hands. However, the way I used to work before- take a script, think and measure and then say yes- I think that is very important for me.

Going forward, I wont look at elements of a script. Each time I plan a particular kind of script or actors, it doesn’t work for me. For instance, ‘Kill Dill’ was with a big director, Ranveer Singh, Govinda and Yashraj. On paper, everything was fine. But the film didn’t work! So elements can’t work. The script has to work.

Recently, there have been reports that you aren’t too keen on working beyond the YRF banner and that it controls you. What do you have to say?

Answer: It’s rubbish! It’s my endeavor to expose these irrational prejudices against my YRF contract. People think that all of us who work with YRF cant work outside. That’s Not the case. It just so happened that my greatest scripts came from YRF. I did work with Dharma & Phantom, but nobody wants to remember that.

Anushka, Ranveer & Arjun are working with everyone. There is nothing like that! Why wouldn’t I want to work outside? These reports are funny.