Athiya Shetty says she took time off after her first two films to improve her craft, as she wants to be a part of movies that help her "break the mould" in Bollywood. Her latest film, Motichoor Chaknachoor, opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui is something she believes "challenged her as an actor". "I worked on myself as an actor. I did a lot of workshops. There is nothing wrong in taking time off to better myself. In this industry, you can't decide what path you want to walk on. You can't plan things. I felt I need to prove myself to be here," says Shetty.

"I had a great time working on Hero [2015] and Mubarakan [2017] but somewhere I was not fulfilled as an actor. This film gave me the opportunity to work hard and break the mould, challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone." Shetty says she looks at competition as something that makes the job fun, but does not look at what others are doing. "If you concentrate on your work, your journey becomes easy. Everybody is struggling to do their best. Today, there are different platforms and hence, work for everyone."