Actress Anushka Sharma, who is playing a Haryanvi belle in Vishal Bhardwaj’s upcoming film Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola, says working with the director was a great learning curve.

Anushka is a huge fan of Vishal’s films like Maqbool and Omkara so the film, which also stars Imran Khan and Pankaj Kapoor, was a wish fulfillment for her.

“He has a completely different perspective which is not the usual or cliched and he has been on the top in my directors’ list. Vishal sir is a very knowledgeable man and well read.

Working with him has been really an interesting experience and a learning curve for me,” says Anushka.

The 24-year-old star plays the character of a girl who is not very expressive when it comes to her emotions. Anushka says she had an unusual meeting with Vishal before getting the role. “He just called me one day saying he had a role for me.

I met him some days later and he narrated the script to me, and it was so hilarious that I fell off my chair and I was aware that he did not know me that well. I thought he would think something was wrong with me,” says Anushka.

Though the film is set in a fictional town of Haryana, Anushka says she portrays a modern character. “I play Bijli in the film which is based in a fictional town of Haryana called Mandola.

It is also the name of Pankaj Kapoor’s character, who is my father in the film. His daughter is well educated. She comes back and gets involved in the politics and the relationships of the small town.

But as a character she is not very expressive about her emotions and is in denial about her feelings. She paints this really happy, almost a bit too happy picture. Playing this role was quite a journey,” says Anushka.