Mrunal Thakur says Pooja Meri Jaan arrived at an exciting point in her career because the emotionally demanding role allowed her to move beyond the kind of parts she had been taking on in recent years. The actor says she wants to keep choosing stories that challenge her rather than repeating a familiar screen image.
Mrunal Thakur is looking at her career through a different lens.
With Pooja Meri Jaan, the actor has taken on a role that required her to navigate fear, vulnerability, uncertainty and emotional conflict. The Zee5 original, directed by Navjot Gulati, began streaming on October 2, giving audiences another opportunity to see the actor in a markedly different dramatic space.
For Mrunal, the experience was not simply about playing another character. She says the role gave her an opportunity to explore unfamiliar emotional territory as a performer.
Mrunal Thakur on the emotional challenge of Pooja
Mrunal describes Pooja as a character who is rarely settled in one emotional state.
“Pooja is constantly navigating different emotional spaces. There is fear, confusion, love, strength, vulnerability, and sometimes, within the same scene, there is so much uncertainty.”
That instability was part of what made the role interesting for her.
Rather than playing a character whose emotional journey could be approached through one dominant trait, Mrunal had to respond to shifting circumstances and conflicting feelings.
She said that uncertainty ultimately made the process more exciting.
“But that’s also something that made my process very exciting.”
For an actor, such roles can require a different kind of preparation because emotional transitions have to feel organic rather than predetermined. In Mrunal’s case, the challenge appears to have been precisely what attracted her to the project.
‘For the last two years, I have been only working on projects which are making me look pretty and do comedy’
Mrunal also spoke candidly about the kind of work she had been doing before Pooja Meri Jaan.
According to the actor, she had spent the previous couple of years working largely on projects that placed her in glamorous or comic spaces. While those experiences were part of her journey, she wanted something that would push her emotionally.
“For the last two years, I have been only working on projects which are making me look pretty and do comedy, but this is a different genre.”
She described Pooja Meri Jaan as a challenging project that gave her room to explore herself as a performer.
“Sometimes, it also allowed me to discover something new about myself as a performer.”
That discovery appears to be increasingly important to the choices she wants to make going forward.
Mrunal wants audiences to see different sides of her
Mrunal’s comments suggest that versatility is becoming a defining goal in the next phase of her career.
The actor says she is now more interested in stories that evoke an emotional response, challenge her acting abilities or encourage audiences to reconsider subjects they may already think they understand.
“Today, I’m attracted to stories that make me feel something, challenge me as an actor, or make me see a familiar subject differently.”
She also expressed an interest in slice-of-life storytelling—films where characters and their experiences can feel recognisable to viewers.
For Mrunal, connecting with both the character and the audience is becoming increasingly important.
“I want to resonate with the character, and be able to resonate with the audience at the same time.”
From Love Sonia to Sita Ramam, she does not want to stay in one lane
Mrunal pointed to some of the projects that represent different stages of her acting journey, including Love Sonia and Sita Ramam, while placing Pooja Meri Jaan in that same larger pursuit of variety.
Her objective, she says, is not to reproduce a role that has already worked for her.
“I’m not looking to repeat myself, that’s my constant effort.”
That philosophy is particularly relevant for actors whose public image can quickly become associated with one type of role.
Rather than building her career around a single formula, Mrunal appears interested in moving between genres and emotional registers.
She added:
“They are all very different movies, and I want to be known as a versatile actress who’s not afraid of jumping from one genre to another.”
For her, versatility is not simply about doing different genres for the sake of variety. It is about keeping audiences uncertain about what she might do next.
“It’s about surprising the audience, and I hope Pooja Meri Jaan does that.”
What is Pooja Meri Jaan about?
Directed by Navjot Gulati, Pooja Meri Jaan features Mrunal Thakur alongside Huma Qureshi, Vijay Raaz and Vikram Singh Chauhan.
The film deals with themes that invite viewers to examine social attitudes and personal assumptions, with Mrunal’s character at the centre of an emotionally demanding situation.
The film’s reception has also highlighted its willingness to engage with uncomfortable questions rather than offering easy answers. A review of the film described it as thought-provoking and noted that it challenges viewers to examine their own beliefs.
That thematic territory makes the project a particularly fitting choice for an actor who says she is increasingly drawn towards stories that make people feel, think and look at familiar subjects differently.
A year of varied roles for Mrunal Thakur
Pooja Meri Jaan also arrives during a busy period in Mrunal’s career. The actor has appeared in several releases this year, including Do Deewane Seher Mein, Dacoit and Hai Jawani to Ishq Hona Hai.
The range of projects further reflects the variety she says she is seeking.
Rather than measuring her progress simply through the number of films she appears in, Mrunal’s comments suggest that the nature of those roles matters more to her.
The goal is to keep moving.
‘I’m not looking to repeat myself’
Mrunal Thakur’s comments ultimately point towards an actor who does not want familiarity to become a creative limitation.
After establishing herself across different kinds of films, she appears increasingly interested in characters that demand emotional risk and allow her to leave behind expectations about what she should look like or how she should behave on screen.
Pooja Meri Jaan represents another step in that direction.
Whether every new role surprises audiences is ultimately for viewers to decide. But Mrunal’s ambition is clear: she wants her filmography to reflect an actor willing to take different routes rather than repeatedly choosing the safest one.
