There is a myriad emotion on the canvas of Indian cinema but Diana Penty says beyond that, the whole movie-making business is a big gamble – one that all actors have to take.
“The whole movie-making business is such a gamble at the end of the day. Something works, something doesn’t. It is a gamble you have to take,” said the Cocktail star in an interview. “So yes, there is a certain amount of pressure but I can’t let that govern the way I go about for my next project.”
After her modelling stint, Diana ventured into Bollywood with Cocktail, which also featured Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, back in 2012. Her role of a demure Indian girl named Meera stayed with the audience, despite seasoned actors Saif and Deepika being there with her. But Diana maintained her distance from the big screen after her debut. She came back last year with Happy Bhag Jayegi, in which she was seen as the carefree Happy.
After back-to-back successes, one might think that there would be immense pressure on Diana to have a hat-trick. The actor, however, says the mantra is not to sit around and dwell on it.
“People used to ask me that since Cocktail was such a huge success and I took so much time off after it, was there pressure? I’d say, yes, there was pressure but somewhere towards the end, you get so involved in the project that you don’t have the time to sit and think about it and be like, ‘Oh my god, I have to be stressed right now’,” she said.
The two-film-old star feels she is still too new in the industry to stick to a strategy.
“I am too new to have a fixed strategy. I approach a project by thinking whether the audience would like to watch it, does it keep me interested or will it keep me hooked… Is it helping me to step out of my comfort zone,” she said, adding that she finds it important to “strike a balance between commercial and art films.”
So does that prepare her for failure mentally? Diana asserted that there is no other way to go about it. “As a person, I tend to prepare myself for the worst. It is a defence mechanism. I have done this all my life in most situations and not just work-wise,” she responded.
Nonetheless, Diana realises that talking about failure is easier than facing it. “It is only that much that you can prepare yourself. But when it actually happens, it is a completely different ball game. Then you have to learn how to deal with it and cope up with it,” she said. “You never really know once you are in that situation. So, it is hard for me to think about it and hopefully, that situation will not come,” added the 31-year-old.
Now, the actor wants to be part of a thriller. She concluded by saying that she has been meeting people for her next project. “It will not take four years, I promise. I am working on it and this time, it will not take long.”