Actor Aditi Rao Hydari calls her character Nusrat in The Girl on the Train, “the perfect sunshine girl.” According to Aditi, despite Nusrat being adapted from Megan in the Hollywood original, she has a lot more going on around her in the Netflix film.

The Girl on the Train is the Hindi remake of 2016 original film based on Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel of the same name. The psychological thriller starred Emily Blunt is the lead role, while Haley Bennett played Megan. The Bollywood version, featuring Parineeti Chopra, has been directed by Ribhu Dasgupta.

We know Megan was a mysterious, emotionally distraught girl, who gets murdered in the original. So, how different is Nusrat from her? “Ribhu re-wrote this character a lot. He brought a lot more of her backstory. I really liked the way he juxtaposed these two very opposite characters, where Mira (Parineeti Chopra) is the one who is going through this turmoil and the girl on the balcony, Nusrat, is this perfect sunshine girl. It’s like she’s living vicariously through her. Megan in the original film is a mysterious girl on the balcony. But, Nusrat is very flesh and blood,” Aditi told indianexpress.com, in an exclusive chat.

Aditi further shared that Nusrat’s dance, a new addition to the character, made her special. “What I really liked about Nusrat on the script level, is that everything she goes through – happiness, sadness, whatever it is, comes out through her dancing. Ribhu made her a dancer. You won’t see much of it in the film. But, I loved that it was a very important element. I know music and dance and, I know how important these fine things are to a person, how it brings out something special in a person,” Aditi added.

According to the original story, an unfortunate incident brings Nusrat (Aditi) and Mira (Parineeti) at opposite ends of the spectrum, revealing the dark sides of both the characters. Aditi lauded the way director Ribhu played with the two female leads in the film.

“Every character Ribhu has written is layered. I loved how he played with the opposing worlds Mira and Nusrat. I think that was what really drew me to this. I don’t know how I played it. I’m one of those trusting people who walks onto a set and surrenders myself to the story. I like working like that.”

Aditi Rao Hydari plays the character of Nusrat in The Girl on The Train. (Photo: Netflix)

With regard to the plot of The Girl on the Train, how often does Aditi imagines the back stories of strangers she sees around her? “I do a lot of people watching and imagining their lives. I’m possibly the only person who can get lost in London, because I zone out and I start dreaming, I’ll get off at the wrong station, get on the wrong train because I’m in some dreamland. I do all kinds of really stupid things (laughs).”

Also starring Avinash Tiwary and Kiri Kulhari, The Girl on the Train releases on Netflix on February 26.