To play a Maharashtrian wasn’t challenging, I have good grasping power, says Kriti Sanon

Kriti Sanon plays Parvatibai, wife of Maratha general Sadashivrao 'Bhau', in Ashutosh Gowariker’s period war drama Panipat. During an interview prior to the film's release, Sanon said she was the only member of the cast who did not know Marathi. Yet, she said she did not find it challenging to speak Marathi and act like a Maharashtrian woman.

“To play a Maharashtrian, honestly, wasn’t so challenging,” said Sanon. “I think I have, fortunately, good grasping power. So, I pick up and pronounce decently well. I have done a Telugu film, but I still don’t know Telugu. And I used to have pages of dialogue. There they used to say I am pronouncing very well and sound like someone who stays here.”

Sanon said she wanted to make sure that whatever little Marathi she had to speak in the film sounded like it was coming from a Maharashtrian. “It should feel that she has been speaking this language since childhood," she said. "I feel it’s a beautiful language, it has a flavour to it. It has mithaas [sweetness] and also tadka [spice].”

Panipat tells the story of the Third Battle of Panipat, which took place in 1761 between the Maratha forces led by Bhau (Arjun Kapoor) and the army of Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Abdali, played by Sanjay Dutt.

Sanon said her main challenge was to keep reminding herself that her character belonged to a bygone era. “What happens is that sometimes certain expressions and reactions are very contemporary. Then you need to remind yourself that in those days she probably wouldn’t do this,” she said.

Panipat was released on Friday 6 December.

Panipat review: Ashutosh Gowariker's epic is rich in texture and layers of history, not drama