'I Was A Chubby Teenager With Braces'

Despite her on-screen persona of an outspoken, cheery and uninhibited girl, Vaani Kapoor confesses that she’s a very paranoid person IRL, and has a bunch of insecurities to iron out as her Bollywood career shapes up.

- Meghna Sharma

Most guys who watched Vaani Kapoor pull off those sexy moves in Befikre came away harbouring a major crush on the 28-year-old. A lot of women probably felt the same way (and some envy for that beyond hot body and those dance moves). “It’s funny you should say that, because the real me is nothing like Shyra (the character she played in the film). I’m the complete opposite,” she says. “I was a chubby teenager with braces. In fact, would you believe that I looked like that when I was signed on by Elite Model Management?” That’s so not how it came across in Befikre...

Growing up in Delhi, Vaani admits she was very shy. Almost cripplingly so. “I’m not a very social person. I don’t open up to people very easily... They need to make me feel comfortable, otherwise I go into my shell,” she adds. Though Vaani aced the litmus test of playing a girl who’s completely her opposite—a strong, liberated, I’m-cool with-my-sexuality French woman—getting into the skin of the character was no easy feat, she tells us. “I had to work really hard for this role, and I went through several rounds of auditions. Since in real life I’m on the other end of the spectrum, I had to ensure my body language, my energy levels, and my attitude matched up to the character’s,” she says. It didn’t end there—in order to play a true-blue Parisian (with Indian roots, of course) Vaani had to learn French. “Not just learn it, but I had to talk like a French girl. It was tough, but not unachievable. As part of the prep for the role, I spent some time with locals in Paris. I picked up on their accent and then practiced...a lot.”