In conversation with Dolly Singh about ‘Thank You For Coming’, exploring acting and more

“I have just felt on top of the world,” says Dolly Singh as we sat down with her to chat about her latest Bollywood film 'Thank You For Coming'.

This year has been great for the creator community on the content front for all the fantastic work they had the chance to be part of. Movies and OTT were all about seeing digital celebrities try their hand at acting and marking another milestone in their career. Dolly Singh is someone who has come to be known for the kind of stories she has to share. Someone who started as a comedy and fashion creator, Dolly has, over the years, also managed to share impactful stories. From her doing her bit in normalizing talks about menstruation with her short film to her getting over her insecurities by bagging brand deals that focus on the same, she indeed has been the changemaker in a lot of sense. That’s precisely why watching her on the big screen along with an ensemble of female talents was not surprising but another reason to celebrate the creator.

Dolly Singh plays Pallavi in Rhea Kapoor's sex comedy Thank You For Coming starring Bhumi Pednekar. In a country where sex is still taboo, this film opens up conversations about sex and orgasm in a fun way. Kanika Kapoor (Pednekar) is 30 and desperate to get an orgasm; she has never had one. She longs for pleasure and stability in life. So, she eventually decides to get married even though her heart isn’t following suit. On the night of her engagement, however, Kanika gets an orgasm. But who gave her this pleasure? She sets to find out. Helping her are her friends Neha (Shibani Bedi) and Pallavi (Dolly Singh).

We had a conversation with her to learn more about her movie, creator community, and more. Take a look at what she had to share -

Now that the film is out and people have watched it, how are you feeling? Were you anxious about the first day?

I think the anxiety had kicked in during the last two or three days and I was feeling a lot of 'how is it going to do?' 'What will people think' and we were already hopeful because we had seen people reacting at TIFF, the premier in Mumbai, my parents. I had seen their reaction and I was like, 'Chalo, koi aur pasand kare yaa na kare my parents love it.' So, I was very happy, but there was a little bit of anxiety for sure. But now that it is released and has gotten such amazing reviews, everybody who's watched it has really liked it. Women have gone and, laughed and cried together. Receiving those kinds of messages, I have just felt on top of the world for the last four to five days.

What was your parent's reaction when they first saw you in the film?

When they first saw me I think they were very happy 'yeh aa gayi' you know look at her type. I was more concerned about the general reaction that they would have over the film. I imagined that they would sit silently, awkwardly, and watch it without saying much, just watching it because their daughter is in it. But I would see they were 100% reacting. They were laughing and enjoying themselves. Even for a bold type of topics were discussed, even then both my parents were very involved. They really enjoyed the film because comedy is a great mediator to sometimes say important things in a way that normalizes a lot of things and laugh about it. 

I was surprised to see them enjoying also because I think they come from certain strata of society with a certain educational background so I was not hoping that they would enjoy it a lot and be open about such conversations, but I forgot that they are also human beings who are growing every year, that they circles are widening, they are meeting new people and all of that. They have also reached a level where a lot of things that mattered to them initially don't matter as much.

Also Read - Dolly Singh's film premiere montage has the internet gushing with love

Is this the film or work you were waiting for, this is a big commercial film that comes with a marketing budget that puts you on the map.

Yes, because I have done roles that have been very small or a blink-and-miss so of course as an actor who aspires to act more I wanted to do something more significant and substantial in terms of the character that has an arc, more screen time all of that. So in that sense, I got all of those things. And to be part of a Rhea Kapoor film was a great chance in general because I look up to her and her filmography so much.

Marketing vise we were not very aware that it would be all of us promoting a film. We thought it would be the hero and the heroine, whoever is the leading part, whether it is two people or one person, the director, etc. But we have five people promoting this film that to all girls was never done before, I don't think so. I think she has done it for Veere Di Wedding obviously, which was a similar film.  None of us are big stars but the fact that they included all of us, with no differentiation in terms of roles. It represented the sisterhood that Rhea has always talked about. She wanted that sisterhood to be felt throughout the promotion and I think that also represented a very nice image for the film also, that we are all in this together. And we all had a lot of fun. 

Watch the entire conversation here - 

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