‘Anupam taught me to be humble’

[1]

It was a simple role of a village girl in Singham opposite Ajay Devgn through which actor Kajal Agarwal was noticed in Bollywood. She again portrays the role of a simple school teacher in her upcoming film, Special Chabbis opposite Akshay Kumar, that is inspired by a real life incident in Mumbai.

The film is based on a heist in the late 80s where an unknown man posing as CBI officer Mon Singh recruited 26 men posing as income tax officers and executed a daylight income tax raid on the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri in Mumbai, and disappeared with jewellery worth lakhs.
As the plot suggests, the film is an out and out action flick with the male actors playing the prominent parts. Ask Kajal if she is happy with a small role and she is quick to respond that the size of the role doesn’t matter to her. “It’s the storyline that matters to me the most. I like to be a part of good cinema even if I play a small role,” she says, adding that even in Singham her role wasn’t too visible in front of Ajay Devgn, but still she got noticed. “If you do your part with conviction, people will notice,” she says.
The actor also values the lessons she learns by working in films. She says that during Singham, she got to know many intricate details of working in the industry from Devgn. This time around, while she considers Akshay a great entertainer, she says she learnt a lot from Anupam Kher. “He is a veteran in the industry. He has taught me humility. It was an experience to work with him. He is very encouraging and positive,” she says.
Since the recent movie is based in the 80s, the fashion too is a little retro. Kajal enjoyed experimenting with the clothes. “I’ve tried to revive the sari and the salwar kameez look. But since it’s the role of a teacher, I have kept it simple,” she says.
And while acting is her first love, the actor says she would be travelling all around the world and writing about her experiences at each of the places, if she did not have to act. Few months ago, she wrote a travelogue based on her experiences in Norway that got published in Avant Garde Life. She has loved her trips to Iceland and Bali and her next travelogue would be featuring one of these two destinations. However, it’s something that she does after her film shoots are over.
She may not have many films in Bollywood, but down South her hands are full. “I try to discover the places when I go out on shoots. However, it’s mostly my personal trips where I explore the locales,” she says.