Kareena Kapoor’s movie ‘Heroine’ might have opened to lukewarm response from critics, but most of the critics have praised Kareena Kapoor’s performance in the movie and have said that the actress gave her role her all.

The actress revealed that playing Mahi hasn’t been a cakewalk and Mahi has been her toughest role till date.

“Mahi was one of the toughest characters I have played. Mahi is completely imbalanced and she's a grey character all the way. According to me, no one has played a mainstream grey character because grey is considered a villain. But Mahi is grey all through the duration of the film and yet, in the last 25 minutes of the film, Madhur Bhandarkar and I have been able to successfully get her to connect with the audience. Or at least I hope we have,” said Kareena Kapoor to a daily.

The actress, who left no stone unturned in promoting the movie, said that the reason she spent so much time promoting ‘Heroine’ is because she very close to the movie.

“In a career spanning a decade Heroine is one of the films I have felt very close to. I have invested so much in this film emotionally that at the end of it, it has left me drained. In fact Mahi is someone who has stayed with me...and in the coming days I need to exorcise her. The film is such an obsession with me; it almost feels like my first born,” she said.

It is very well known that Aishwarya Rai was all set to play Mahi before the director Madhur Bhandarkar decided to drop her due to her pregnancy. But Kareena Kapoor said that the way she approached Mahi was very different from Aishwarya Rai.

“Ash is an icon; she is a beauty. She would have done the film differently. And I have approached the role very differently. I don't think I can make any comparisons,” she concluded.

‘Heroine’ that released on September 21, which was also Kareena Kapoor’s birthday, has received mixed to negative responses from critics as well as audience.