No more side roles for me - Sugandha Garg

Sugandha Garg is done playing side roles. "No more sister's friend's role or sister's brother's girlfriend role for me," asserts Sugandha as we begin our interview. And the actress has a valid point at rejecting such roles not because she has nothing against character roles but she firmly believes that they are never written well enough to give those characters any credence. 

"In India, character roles seldom have any meat in it. Mostly you are just standing on the sidelines and doing nothing. So I decided to not do anymore of them and took a sabbatical for two years and travelled a lot. When I was back, the world opened up to me and all of a sudden I started receiving offers for leads and I did some wonderful movies like Ceylon, Jugni. And in the meantime, Coffee Bloom also happened," says Sugandha.

Coffee Bloom which is shot in the scenic tea & coffee estate of Coorg revolves around the lives of three characters played by Sugandha, Arjun Mathur and Mohan Kapoor. Talking about her role, Sugandha says, "In our films, our female protagonist is either a simple girl or a devi-like figure. We don't have a  middle entity. My character Ankita is a very real girl. She makes mistakes, feels guilty, is happy and sad at times too. But she is a fiercely independent woman. She is not present in the film to justify someone else's existence. She has her own individual identity. It's a very strong character and well layered."

While Sugandha is looking forward to her new release on 6th March, the images of her cheering for her husband Ram at AIB knockout still remains fresh. Ask her about the backlash that AIB faced and Aamir Khan's criticism, Sugandha says, "I am all for free speech and I am pro the fact that Mr. Khan had an opinion of his own. And to answer your question about whether Raghu was dismayed at the backlash received, the answer is a big 'No'. He has seen a lot in Roadies and then in AAP. He has always been at the forefront of change. So this didn't affect him in any way."

Coffee Bloom costarring Sugandha, Arjun Mathur and Mohan Kapoor opens on 6th March.