MUMBAI: She’s being praised to the skies for her role as the traumatised schizophrenic Parveen Babi in Woh Lamhe. But it has left Kangana Ranaut so drained she intends to take a month off to regain emotional strength.

“I’m going back home to my village in Himachal as soon as I can, just to be near my dear ones, just to feel what Sana, my character in Woh Lamhe, never did. I had become so close to her that I had begun to feel her desolation and loneliness. I know what she went through. In this ruthless industry you are all alone. There may be happy love stories. Parveen didn’t have one. Some day I hope to have a happy love story.”

Kangana admits she was scared to approach Babi. “The one thing I could connect with was her mood swings. I have them too. As one woman I can connect to the pain of another.”

According to Kangana, the industry is a terrible place for a single girl with no godfather. “Other girls my age are going on blind dates and joining salsa classes. I’m here playing a woman who lost her mind to a world where the only reality is unreality. Not that I’m complaining. I think I’ve been very lucky. I’ve seen life from the highest mountain. I’ve been on my own since the age of 16... I took off to chase my dreams and here I am.”

Talk veers to her audacious scenes in Woh Lamhe such as the one where she flings off her under-garment. “I’m new. I’m raw and I’m totally open to ideas and roles that strike me as authentic. I was aware of those scenes. That wasn’t me doing it. That was Sana. Kangana has her limits. Sana didn’t. When I play a character I’ve to do all she asks me to do.”

Kangana says Woh Lamhe was more traumatic than Gangster. “Earlier I saw Parveen Babi as just another actress. But now when I see her face anywhere I feel I’m part of her. And she’s part of my being. Because I’ve lived her life.”