If one looks at her filmography, it would be hard to imagine that Swara Bhasker once dreamt of dancing in Swiss Alps as a quintessential Hindi film heroine.
But the actor grew up with that dream, watching Doordarshan on her black-and-white TV, only to enter the industry years later and challenge stereotypes.
Featuring in popular and critically-acclaimed films like the "Tanu Weds Manu" franchise, "Raanjhanaa" and "Nil Battery Sannata", Swara completed a decade in the city.
In an interview with PTI, the actor reflected on her journey, which she describes as "wholesome, hard and laborious" but something that has shaped her.
"I don't know how a JNU student landed here. I think it's the power of Bollywood. It is such a central part of our upbringing," she said.
A Delhiite, Swara did her graduation from Miranda House (Delhi University) and masters from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where she began doing amateur street plays.
"I finished my MA exams and thought if I don't do this now I was already 22 I will never be able to do it. I didn't want to be 45, and tell myself, 'What if I had gone to Bollywood?'"
"My struggle was learning to live on my own, learning that this is an industry where you get judged for your looks. I come from a background of academia where we are taught it doesn't matter how you look. Then you come to the glamour world where it's all about the looks. Just accepting that and playing that game was a big struggle."
Swara said she had the "wrong personality, the wrong soul for Bollywood."
"I used to be the girl, sitting in the back in class making fun of all the girls, who do make up. It was an internal struggle, learning to be a part of an industry that's often very shallow in how it judges you. My struggle was never financial."
"I didn't know I had to hire an agency, get out there and pitch myself. I was chilling, thinking people will come to me. I didn't use the buzz because when you're not from the industry, you don't know these games."
"Every six months I'd say, 'I'm going back.' The day Himanshu (Sharma, the writer) called me for 'Raanjhanaa', I was sitting at someone's office, thinking, 'Should I sell the house and then move back to Delhi or put it on rent and then move back?'"
"Avinash sir wrote more than 20 drafts of the script and I read all of them. I would argue with him and had told him, 'We will do the film but I won't compromise on the gender politics of it. I'm not going to be part of a film that even for a minute makes it seem like it's a woman's fault.'"
"There are many things that I didn't see earlier. I also have grown, I'm learning. If there's a critique of something I've done, instead of shutting that person down, I'll make a note of it so that next time I'll keep this in mind."
"I've had well wishers tell me that I'm getting a reputation of being a troublemaker, someone who has a nuisance value. I understand their concerns as well."