Priyanka Chopra recently shared a nostalgic note about her journey of playing Jhilmil in Barfi! - a role that remains one of her most cherished. She recalled
first hearing about the project while filming Anjaana Anjaani with Ranbir Kapoor and being thrilled to collaborate with Anurag Basu, a director she deeply admired. Her preparation involved extensive workshops, research on autism spectrum behaviours, and breaking comfort zones through acting exercises.
You wouldn't want to miss Priyanka Chopra's latest post
Taking to Instagram, Priyanka wrote, "In Jan 2009, while filming Anjaana Anjaani in New York with Ranbir Kapoor, he mentioned his next, Barfi! With Anurag Basu, a filmmaker I admired. So when Sir offered me Jhilmil, I was thrilled. We met at my Mumbai home, I’d just returned from an event, dressed to the nines. He took one look and said he couldn’t imagine me as Jhilmil. I understood, I didn’t want to mess it up either. We agreed to workshop for 5 days."
Priyanka shared how her preparation for Barfi! involved deep research and unconventional acting exercises that helped her fully transform into Jhilmil. She said, "We immersed ourselves in research, reading, watching videos, meeting children on the autism spectrum, and doing exercises in his Aram Nagar office. One day, he asked me to hurl vile Hindi expletives at him. Mortified, I still tried, it was hilarious, liberating, and pulled me out of my comfort zone. After more “Basu-style” drills, Jhilmil was born. Most Barfi–Jhilmil scenes were improvised. Sir shared an idea, and we ran with it. This was also one of the last times my Dad visited me on set."
The actress went on to add, "Barfi! remains one of my most treasured films - for the creativity, the crew, and the joy of shared challenges. Ravi Varman’s cinematography was pure poetry. Gorgeous Ileana D’Cruz brought such grace to Shruti, Ranbir shone like the star he is, and Anurag Sir, brilliant, gentle, playful. His storytelling is magic."
She concluded her post with, "We shot over two years with breaks, unsure if audiences would embrace it. They did beyond our dreams. The love for Jhilmil has stayed with me ever since. On this nostalgic Saturday, I felt like sharing. What are you reminiscing about these days?" Take a look at the post here:
On the work front, Priyanka will be next seen in SS Rajamouli's tentatively titled film, SSMB29, alongside Mahesh Babu.
