My journalist role in Monica most complicated: Divya Dutta

New Delhi: After Preity Zinta, Konkona Sen Sharma and Rani Mukherji, Divya Dutta has become the latest star to don a journalist`s cap in a movie and the actress says it is her toughest role so far.

Playing a print journalist in her new film `Monica`, Divya said she "loved" Rani in `No One Killed Jessica` and was "fascinated" by Konkona in `Page 3`, but her own role is more complicated than these. "It is the most difficult character I have ever played. There have been other actresses playing journalists but my role in this movie is definitely the toughest," Divya told reporters. The actress plays the role of a small-town girl who moves to the big city, becomes a journalist and is eventually murdered after being tangled in a political scam. `Monica`, also starring Ashutosh Rana and Rajit Kapoor, is releasing this Friday, but Divya has already garnered praise for her work in the film. "Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra said that it is the bravest role he has ever seen on screen. Even director Sudhir Mishra was moved by my performance," said Divya. The actress, who received critical acclaim for her roles in Mehra`s `Dilli 6` and Yash Chopra`s `Veer-Zara`, said she was apprehensive about taking up the film at first. "The boldness of the character in terms of its attitude made me a bit apprehensive. It was the toughest to present and living the character was emotionally exhausting." Divya also had to go through a drastic makeover while playing the role as her character spans about 20 years. "My role is shown in five phases, from the age of 16 to 35. From being an under confident schoolgirl in a small town, the character transforms into a smart, ambitious journalist in the city," said the actress. Even though there are reports that her role is inspired by the Niira Radia or Shivani Bhatnagar case, Divya said the film takes from such incidents but her role is not based on any single person. `Monica` is directed by newcomer Sushen Bhatnagar and produced by Congress leader Kush Bhargava. Divya currently has her hands full. After `Monica`, her next film is a children`s film directed by Amol Gupte set for release in May. The actress is also looking forward to `My Friend Pinto`, produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her first Hollywood outing `Hisss`, starring Mallika Sherawat, was panned by critics, but Divya insists she and co-star Irrfan Khan enjoyed working in the film. "The film went wrong due to problems in editing, but both me and Irrfan are happy with our scenes and enjoyed working with director Jennifer Lynch," said Divya. PTI