Daughter of actor #ChunkyPanday, who played lead roles in Hindi cinema during the period of late eighties and early nineties, #AnanyaPanday followed her father’s footsteps and took acting as her profession. #KaranJohar launched her in ‘#StudentOfTheYear2’, which was a sequel to a successful ‘#SOTY’ which launched #AliaBhatt, #SidharthMalhotra and #VarunDhawan, and Ananya’s vivaciousness got noticed and her acting career started to take shape. Ananya’s innocence in ‘#PatiPatniAurWho’, which had #BhumiPednekar and #KartikAaryan, was liked by the audience. Both these performances earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
But later her films like ‘Khaali Peeli’ with Ishaan Khatter and ‘Liger’ with South superstar Vijay Deverakonda, could not hold ground at the box office. But her performance in ‘Gehraiyaan’, which had Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi, was hailed and received good reviews for her acting. Ananya, for the first time, entered the coveted Rs 100 Cr club, with the success of ‘Dream Girl 2’, which was a sequel to a successful ‘Dream Girl’ and her chemistry with Ayushmann Khurrana was adored by the viewers. She showed growth as an actor in this film where she played a small town girl who is not as polished as her other urban characters. During the promotions of Dream Girl 2, our Sr Editor Keerti Kadam interacted with Ananya Panday. Excerpts….
Ayushmann is played a leading role as Pooja in Dream Girl 2. How excited were you doing a ‘two heroine’ film?
(Laughs) Yes. Ayushmann played a female character in Dream Girl 2 and I was supposed to be the leading lady of the film. But Ayusmann’s Pooja was competition to me. Well no actually (Smiles). I was very very excited when the film was offered to me. And frankly, I am not averse to two-heroine films as I have done quite a few of them. I’ve done 6 films till now in my career from which 4 films are two heroine films, so I’m used to it. I was perplexed when I saw Pooja. It was unbelievable. I wasn’t prepared that Pooja would turn out to be so good looking. I was shocked when I saw Ayushmann for the first time in Pooja’s get-up. Actually I saw a female’s back on set and I asked Raaj (Shaandilyaa) sir, ‘Is any heroine doing some guest appearance in our film?’ He said, ‘No. That’s Ayushmann’. I was flabbergasted. It took some time for me to adjust with the fact that this is Ayushmann, but after that it was fun.
Since Ayushmann was playing a woman’s character Pooja, did you give any tips to ‘Pooja’?
No. No. It wasn’t necessary. Ayushmann is a devoted and a fantastic actor himself. He knew what he was getting into. Also he had already played Pooja in part 1, though not physically. He came well prepared with a lot of research and homework done. In fact I learnt a few things from him about how to present yourself with ‘Nazakat’. I also learned ‘Kamar’ movements while dancing. Ayushmann was so thorough that I could not take eyes off him when he performed Pooja.
Do you miss that you could not enjoy college life as you started working at 18?
I sometimes miss college life. I didn’t get to enjoy campus life much because I started work too early and got busy with it. I miss the independence it offers when staying alone. All my friends went abroad to study and now they are back. Their complaint is that I don’t have time for them. But now I am going to try to amend that with a little bit of time management. But I don’t want to change my journey so far.
Who do you think is your competition in the industry?
Actually there are many of us among contemporary heroines, viz. Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor. We have competition but it is a healthy competition. I mean, even the new girls are competition for me. So I try to bring uniqueness in every role. For me everyone is a competitor.
Did you watch Ayushmann’s ‘Dream Girl’ when ‘Dream Girl 2’ was offered to you?
‘Dream Girl’ was released back in 2019 which was my debut year. Yes, I had watched it in theatre. And saw it again before the narration because I wanted to understand Raaj sir’s sensibility. Also since it was a sequel, I wanted to have information first hand. Of course, Raaj Sir was there to help but I wanted to grasp the story’s depth so that I understand what Raaj Sir was explaining.
Your father belongs to the film industry. Does he advice you?
Both my parents are my critics and cheerleaders too. They give me honest feedback after each film that I do. Dad always tells me to work on my voice and bettering Hindi. I have unknowingly learnt many things from my Dad. In this film I’m not doing much of comedy. I’m only reacting, which is converted into comedic situations. Frankly, I love comedies and I want to be part of that genre too. Luckily I got an opportunity to be part of an out and out comedy project. It’s called ‘Call Me Bae’ which will be streaming on Amazon Prime soon. I am eager to know the people’s reaction to it. I’m hoping people like me. Keeping my fingers crossed (Smiles).
How do you face success and failure?
There are going to be ups and downs in life. Though I would like all my films to be superhit, it’s asking for too much (Smiles). I had a successful debut in ‘SOTY2’, but I experienced ‘Liger’ not attaining commercial success. So it’s a part of the game. I definitely get elated when my film does well, but if a film of mine flops, I take it in my stride. I analyse it and try to find out the mistakes I must have committed and try to overcome them and improve myself.
I’ve learnt a lot from my Dad as he’s seen a lot through his journey. He told me ‘Success is harder to handle than failure.’ In failure you learn and only go up but in success you understand the real character of a person. People’s attitudes change, ego arises.
See, I can’t plan success, which obviously is not in my hand. The box office is ruled by viewers. But it’s a good thing that it is booming once again. Films like ‘Gadar 2’, ‘OMG 2’, ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’, ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’, ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’, they’ve all done so so well. There’s excitement in the audience they want to see every kind of film. Even small budget films are working. As an audience I’m very excited and as an actor too. One’s success is everyone’s success.
Have you thought to experiment in films?
I’ve experimented on OTT. My 5 projects are on their way to release, ‘Dream Girl 2’ was one of them. I’m doing a cyber thriller film with Vikramaditya Motwane Sir. I’m also doing a film on friendship produced by Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar. I’m experimenting as I don’t want to get bored and bore the audience at the same time.
How do you prepare yourself as an actor? How much do you depend on your director?
I’m completely a director’s actor and there’s a lot that I depend on. We actors are just the medium making directors vision come to life. I spend a lot of time with my directors. During the making of ‘Dream Girl 2’, I did spend a lot of time with Raaj Sir, as his comic timing is fantastic. He holds a bunch of jokes. If I say I don’t want to say a particular line he’ll give me 10-15 options like say this or that. I do my homework and come but I try to stay fluid. I do not come to sets fixedly, wanting to do something as it is in my head. Because if the director changes the scene or a location, you get stuck. I am not a charlatan, so I try to stay flexible.
It’s easy to make anyone cry but to make someone laugh is the toughest. What are your views?
Comedy is a serious business. Comedy is not easy, you’re either born with it or else you acquire it. If you’re not born with it, it becomes difficult to enact comedic scenes. Not everyone has comic timing. I was lucky to have worked with a director like Raaj Shaandilyaa who is a fabulous writer. He made my life easier while doing comedy because in the movie half the lines and jokes are his. With comedy you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. You have to allow yourself to be a fool and silly. I’ve learnt in comedy that you’ll make mistakes but end result will come good.
What is a takeaway for you from your films?
As an artist I learnt the importance of language. Audiences have seen me play mainly urban characters. I played, for the first time, a girl from Mathura in DG2. I had to speak in a typical tone and I think I have managed well. I enjoyed the
Braj Bhasha.
Which other actors do you like who’ve played Drags?
I think Riteish Deshmukh in ‘Apna Sapna Money Money’. He looked so good as a girl I really loved him in that. He actually looked gorgeous. I can’t think of anyone else now.
How do you deal with the positivity and negativity on social media?
Social media is for communication but these days it’s been misused a lot. Somedays you feel nice as you get praised. Somedays you feel bad as you are abused. I believe in switching off and spending time in the real world a little bit.
Who is your favourite actor and director from Bollywood?
Ranveer Singh and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
