Earning praises for her performances

Difficult role

Playing a print journalist in her new film ‘Monica’, Divya says she "loved" Rani in 'No One Killed Jessica' and was "fascinated" by Konkona in 'Page 3', but her own role is more
complicated than these.

“It is the most difficult character I have ever played. There have been other actresses playing journalists but my role in this movie is definitely the toughest,” says Divya.

The actress plays the role of a small-town girl who moves to the big city, becomes a journalist and is eventually murdered after being tangled in a political scam.

'Monica', also starring Ashutosh Rana and Rajit Kapoor, released last week, but Divya has already garnered praise for her work in the film.

“Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra said that it is the bravest role he has ever seen on screen. Even director Sudhir Mishra was moved by my performance,” says Divya.

The actress, who received critical acclaim for her roles in Mehra's 'Dilli 6' and Yash Chopra's Veer-Zara, said that she was apprehensive about taking up the film at first.

“The boldness of the character in terms of attitude made me a bit apprehensive. Living the character was emotionally exhausting.”

Divya also had to go through a drastic makeover while playing the role as her character spans about 20 years.

“My role is shown in five phases, from the age of 16 to 35. From being an under confident schoolgirl in a small town, the character transforms into a smart, ambitious journalist in
the city,” says Divya.
Even though there are
reports that her role is
inspired by Niira Radia and Shivani Bhatnagar case,
Divya says the film takes
from such incidents but her role is not based on any
single person.
'Monica' is directed by
newcomer Sushen Bhatnagar and produced by Congress leader Kush Bhargava.
Divya currently has her hands full. After 'Monica', her next film is a children's film
directed by Amol Gupte which is set for May release.

The actress is also looking forward to 'My Friend Pinto', produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Her first Hollywood outing Hisss, starring Mallika Sherawat, was panned by critics, but Divya insists she and co-star Irrfan Khan enjoyed working in the film.

“The film went wrong due to problems in editing, but both me and Irrfan are happy with our scenes and enjoyed working with director Jennifer Lynch,” says Divya.