I want someone who is inspiring, creative, kind and curious. - Sobhita Dhulipala

All it the dice of destiny or playing out a prewritten script. For someone far removed from vanity, Sobhita Dhulipala was placed second at the Femina Miss India 2013 pageant and represented the country at Miss Earth 2013. The topper in college, then took to modelling but soon quit it, finding it hollow.It was the ecstasy between action and cut, which she discovered during an acting workshop that roused the performer in her.

She paved her way into films with Anurag Kashyap’s critically acclaimed Raman Raghav 2.0 in 2016. In 2017, she starred in Chef with Saif Ali Khan and then in Kaalakaandi in 2018, ratifying that she didn’t fancy the formulaic. The same year her Telugu actioner, Goodachari, turned into a blockbuster. She took the digital space by storm with Made In Heaven, centred on wedding planners. Her act as Tara Khanna, delves into shades of grey against the colours of celebration. More recently, she played a spy in the Bard Of Blood, a role she refers to as being gender-free. The thriller The Body and Nivin Pauly’s Moothon are in the pipeline.

“I want to throw myself into the ocean and watch myself swim to the shore,” says the gutsy girl from small-town Vishakapatnam, whose dreams are no longer small…

How did you bag Zoya Akhtar’s Made In Heaven (MIH)?

I was first called for an audition. A month later I was called for a look test where I met Nitya Mehra (writer) and Zoya Akhtar. Zoya had seen me in Raman Raghav 2.0. We had also worked on commercials two years ago. She believed I’d do well in the series. The fact that it was a digital web series was a bit confusing for me. But I’d heard Anurag Kashyap was making Sacred Games with Saif Ali Khan, which gave me some assuarnace that there was future on this platform. Once I read the script, all the doubts vanished.

How has life changed after MIH?

I’m still the same person. My sense of security and confidence is the same. I’ve always been assured about my choices. Because they weren’t choices with any agenda - ki yeh karne se kya milega. The thrill comes from the work and not from the result. The success was a pleasant surprise but I’m not charmed by the idea of being popular. I want to be inspired and feel that fire.

Are marriages really made in heaven?