If Clooney had worried about Pitt’s screen time, there would be no Ocean's Eleven: Sonakshi Sinha

Directed by Abhishek Varman, Kalank has a long lineup of top artistes like Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Roy Kapur and Kunal Kemmu. This, and the fact that the film's makers erected a small city for the shooting, were the main reaons, along with her own character, that motivated her to sign on for the film, actress Sonakshi Sinha said.

"A beautiful and strong role has come to me after a long time; probably after Lootera (2013). I was so happy to be part of this film only because of the kind of world Abhishek has created and the people I got to work with. Such fine actors! Every character has a contribution in taking the story forward. I think that was the most special part. The entire experience was just surreal,” she said.

But with so many artistes cast in pivotal roles, Sinha was asked if she wasn't ever concerned about her own screen time. The actress responded that if the characters are etched out well and contribute to the story, that’s all that matters.

“If everyone thought about screen space, we would never have multi-starrers," she quipped. "If George Clooney had complained about Brad Pitt getting more screen space, we would never have had Ocean’s Eleven.”

Sinha has another multi-starrer, first-time feature film director Abhishek Dudhaiya’s Bhuj: The Pride Of India (2020), in the works. Also starring Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati, Parineeti Chopra and Ammy Virk, the film is about 300 women who rebuilt a damaged runway in one night during the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Sonakshi Sinha plays the one who leads the team of women in that film. "I think that character in itself is very strong," she said of her role in the film. "They made the entire runaway in one night for planes to land. This is one lady who got 300 women together and convinced them to build the runway while there was bombing going on.”

Interestingly, the same character was offered to Sinha twice before in different films. “But I wasn’t able to do either because of other commitments. Finally Bhuj happened. As they say, some roles are just meant for you.”

Kalank is being released today.