Veere Di Wedding ironically had better written and more relatable parts played by the comparatively smaller names – Swara Bhasker and Shikha Talsani. Shikha has emerged with considerable applause for her role as Meera, who marries her foreign boyfriend without the consent of her parents and later has to face the consequences. Her naturalness shines on screen, making Meera, with her exuberance and her issues, one of the film’s best-loved characters.

Shikha today is sending up a silent prayer that she refused all the offers which portrayed her exclusively as a fat person onscreen. After her supportive friend act in the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Wake Up Sid, Shikha refused more work than she ended up accepting. As she puts it, “They were all about being fat and eating non-stop!”

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However, producer Rhea Kapoor had noticed her back from Wake Up Sid in 2009. When the part of Meera was offered to her through casting director Aseem Chabria, grabbing it was a no-brainer. “It was a godsend,” she declares, adding, “I was one of the four leads, and that did it for me.”

Today she is touched by all the praise coming her way. Declaring that the audience’s response to the film and to her is overwhelming, she is simply glad she waited for Veere Di Wedding to happen. “If I had done some of the other stuff offered to me, this may not have come my way,” she points out.

Incidentally, Shikha, unlike her onscreen self Meera, is neither married nor a mother. However, she reveals that her character is someone she knows well in real life. She adds that all the characters in the film, from Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor Khan) to Avni (Sonam Kapoor Ahuja), to Sakshi (Swara Bhasker) and Meera are relatable. “I think that’s what has worked for the film,” she says.

Hopefully Veere… is the start of many more exciting onscreen roles for the very talented Shikha.