MRUNAL THAKUR

The actor lets Cosmo India Editor Pratishtha Dobhal in on the ideas that shape her and the importance of living in the moment.

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There's something about Mrunal Thakur. A pulchritudinous girl who disarms you with her warmth and smile to snub delulu where it hurts the most—in being as real as it gets. Mrunal feels like the MVP who is almost always fully present in the moment.

She made this quality pretty evident while on set for the cover shoot, picking up on small nuances and noticing everything and everyone, from the art lead to the spot boy.

Strong-willed, after almost 13 years in the entertainment business, 32-year-old Mrunal's body of work and filmography is reflective of a range of characters and story arcs that are diverse and divergent, all at once. She not only managed to gracefully transition from making her television debut in 2012 to regional cinema in 2014, but consciously chose to make her Hindi film debut in 2018 with Love Sonia (inspired by the perilous world of sex trafficking), directed by Tabrez Noorani alongside Freida Pinto, Manoj Bajpayee, Adil Hussain, Anupam Kher, RajKummar Rao, Richa Chadha, Demi Moore, and others.

How has she managed to be friends with that often-elusive thing called 'mindfulness'? When we connect over our interview call, I dive straight in—is the attention to detail and being privy to how everyone around her is feeling what makes her thrive and come alive?

"Yes, because most of the people keep worrying about tomorrow or keep living in their past, and you know keep bringing up those, 'mere saath yeh hua tha-voh hua tha' [this happened to me, that happened to me] and don't live in the moment.