I don't want to become Katrina Kaif: Richa Chadda

Upbeat about the success of Gangs of Wassepur, actress Richa Chadda says hat she's not interested in being part of the Bollywood numbers game ​and wants to do intelligent cinema.

How did you prepare for your role inGangs of Wasseypur (GOW), considering that you play a woman who goes from being a teenager to an old woman? 
I was doing a play called Kennedy Bridge -- of course, Anurag knew me before -- it was a play in which I and play a women who goes from being 18 to 55. My preparation was helped by the fact that I did that play. 

What was it like working with prosthetics to make you look older? 
I had lots of prosthetic work. It was quite a challenge. It restricted me in a certain way -- for instance, when you smile, you feel a little stiffness. Even though that was challenging, onscreen nobody will know a 25 year old is playing a 55 year old. I feel like I was greatly helped by all that to get into character, but it was quite challenging. 

Would you like to go the 'ugly' route, a la Charlize Theron in Monster, or put on weight, like Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture, to play a role? 
I would love to have done all that. I would have loved to put on weight for the second part ofGangs Of Wasseypur when I become old, or I would have loved to have slimmed down for the first part, but Anurag told me to stay medium so that I could go from young to old. I'm a medium-built person. We were shooting Part 1 and Part 2 concurrently, so one day I was up being 18 in the morning, and the same day, I was 35; the next morning I'm 16 and in the evening I'm 60 and I'm going to go for my child's wedding in the film. So you can't put on or lose weight because you have to stay standard. For the second part in which I'm older, they gave me padding to add weight so that I looked like I had kids. 

You seem to be veering towards alternative cinema, with your first two films being offbeat. Would you like to do an out-and-out commercial film? 
I'm doing an out-and-out commercial film right now. It should release in September. I will definitely never do something in which I'm a prop, or something in which I'm (my character is) senseless. Plus, I'm educated, so I'm not in a desperate hurry. I'd rather be Meryl Streep, who has such a long and busy career at 65. I'm patient. I do some TV commercials to survive in the city, I do theatre and I do intelligent cinema. When I grow old, I want my grandchildren to watch my films and say, 'That's good', and not, 'What's she doing running around in a bikini?'. 

How do you balance theatre and film? 
I'm trying to balance both like when I was doing Gangs Of Wasseypur. I didn't do my play for three months. So they waited for me. Then I did consecutive shows of that play for 2-3 months. When I do something thing, I do one thing at a time. If the show dates of a play clash with a film, like with every film I've done, somehow it works out. 

What's next on the anvil for you? 
I want to be patient. There are many scripts I have, three of which are intelligent. I'm not in a hurry to buy a Mercedes. I'm very content, I'm very spiritual. I'm not bothered about being in this race. I don't want to become Katrina Kaif.