Mehreen bats for noiseless Diwali

As a kid, Mehreen loved bursting crackers, sporting new outfits and binging on yummy sweets on Diwali but for the past many years, she has abstained from celebrating the festival with crackers, calling for a noiseless and pollution-less Diwali.

“It’s a festival of lights, let there be diyas all around. I’m completely against bursting crackers because it’s harmful to us, the environment and the animals. Also, I’m allergic to smoke and dust and I take ill easily when the atmosphere is contaminated,” she complains.

It would be the first time that the ‘Krishnagaadi Veeraprema Gaadha’ girl would be celebrating Diwali in Hyderabad. How is she planning to bring it in? “It’d be a simple affair with family and friends. At the most, I may be having lunch with people whom I’m close to,” she reveals, pointing out that she is aware of how Hyderabadi’s observe the festival.

“I was told there would be too much of sound and air pollution but let’s see! In Mumbai, the pollution levels have come down drastically since the last two years.”

So, what are her earliest memories of the festival? “I remember injuring my finger while lighting a rocket. It so happened that even before I lighted it, the sparks flied on to my hand and I burnt my finger.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a major one, ruling out an earful from mom. For the next two days, I distanced myself from crackers,” she laughs, adding that since her birthday too falls around Diwali, it was double the fun for her.

Mehreen, after making an impressive debut with ‘Krishnagaadi Veeraprema Gaadha’ (KVG) earlier this year, hasn’t started shooting for any Telugu film yet. She maintains that immediately after ‘KVG’, she had to leave to Mumbai for the shooting of Anushka Sharma-starrer ‘Phillauri’.

“I was busy with it for a couple of months as the makers wanted to complete it in a start-to-finish schedule. We’ve wrapped it up in July and now I’m back in Hyderabad rearing to start my next Telugu film.”

Although she signed Sai Dharam Tej and Allu Sirish’s respective projects, both are yet to go on to floors. The film with the latter has been put on hold and she admits that she was unhappy with the way things unfolded with it initially. “But I always believe that whatever happens, it happens for the best.

This is the first time that a project of mine has been put on hold. It’s a learning experience going forward,” she sighs, admitting that she is no hurry to sign films. “I was flooded with offers but I know that my debut performance has left a mark on the audience and I want to live up to it with my next too.

I cannot wait to sign more films and be the top Telugu heroine. As a person, I’m very impulsive and if something interesting comes tomorrow, I’ll sign it straightaway.”

Recently there was buzz that she had signed Ravi Teja’s next. Quiz her on that and she is quick to say, “It’s not confirmed yet; I’m still in discussions.”

While her film with Sai Dharam Tej might take some more time to start as Sai is currently occupied with Gopichand Malineni’s ‘Winner’, Mehreen is extremely upbeat about ‘Phillauri’, which marks her Bollywood debut.

Directed by Anshai Lal, it is a joint venture between Fox Star Studios and Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate Films and would release on March 31, 2017. “It was a complete surprise when the film came to me. It has been a lovely journey with an experienced team.

I was the only newcomer on the sets but everybody showered with so much love and affection. Anushka, especially, treated me like her little sister and she’s been possessive about me,” the Punjabi girl, whose contract with the film’s makers desist her from speaking about it until the promotional campaign kicks off, smiles.

She, however, goes on about Anushka, “There was a lot to learn from her. Personalities-wise, we are very similar to each other. I remember her family, after observing the way I go about my work, telling me that she was like me when she started in the industry.

It was a big boost to me. She’s hardworking, sincere and carries a cool head. I’ve never seen her behaving like a star on sets. They say, ‘You don’t need to act like a star, you are a star.’

Anushka is a star in that sense; you feel that when she’s around you. She’s there for me whenever I need guidance.”