From an intense role The Terrorist to the light, romantic role in Outsourced, how has the journey been?

I’ve always enjoyed doing something different so, even though it was not a conscious exercise to avoid typecasting, I’ve ended up doing work that is pretty varied. When I did The Terrorist, I was very lucky to be offered that film, because there was a synchronicity between the kind of film Santosh Sivan wanted to make and the kind of film I was interested in. I then did a lot of other films and have recently been doing a lot of comedies. I always feel sort of honoured to be asked to do comedies because people who write them are very bright. I really enjoyed the script of Outsourced and knew immediately that I wanted to do the film.

How did you land the role?
I remember meeting the director and producer of the film and we got on well. I was asked to come back to read the script with Josh Hamilton. When I returned, I dressed like the character I play in the film in every detail, down to the shoes and watch I was wearing. I got so involved in putting this character together that it only occurred to me at the last minute that my idea might be totally different from theirs. They told me later that, that was the thing which helped them make up their minds.

What are you looking at now?
I like playing real people, and find them endlessly interesting as characters. This year, I have played a Naxalite in a film called Red Alert, a girl from Bihar who wants to be an airhostess in Mumbai Chakachak, and a socialite who will do anything to be an actress in the British film, Mad, Sad And Bad. Now I’m playing a good girl, who gets mixed up with a guy with a troubled past in the British soap Coronation Street.

How is it working in the popular soap Coronation Street?
A soap opera, Coronation Street has run for forty-eight years, and is watched by 17 million people a week, so it is interesting when I get on a train or go to the supermarket. People are very friendly but they treat me like the character in the soap. So now I have got used to getting relationship advice from taxi-drivers, supermarket check-out girls, traffic wardens, priests and grannies.