While most prefer partying hard, actor Swara Bhaskar welcomed the New Year on a quieter note with her beau and National Award winning writer, Himanshu Sharma, on the ghats of the Ganga in Varanasi. Swara checked into a nondescript hotel in the holy city, and watched the sun set on the last day of 2016 while sitting beside the Ganga, which she says was the most peaceful sight. “I have begun shooting for this film in Mumbai, and we have been following a very hectic schedule. So mujhe ek din ki chhuti mili thi, and I just wanted a break. And as it happened, you can't shoot on New Year's Eve, it's a film workers union rule. So woh ek din ke break mein, I decided to take a flight to Varanasi to spend New Year's Eve there,“ says the actor, who's now back in Mumbai to resume the shooting of her film.

“I have a connection with Banaras because meri nani wahan se hain, so I have visited the place as a kid too. But that special connect with the city has developed over a period of time. It was during the shoot of Raanjhanaa that the city became special to me. Also, the character of Bindiya that changed me a lot as a person. Basically, I'm not a very religious person. Mujhe yeh mandir jaana, following all these rituals aur vrat rakhna, yeh sab mujhe zyada nahi suhata tha kabhi. I was in the rationalist and atheist kind of space. But while shooting for Raanjhanaa, I first visited Vishwanathji with Dhanush, who's a huge Shiv bhakt. In the film, Bindiya is a devout and a god-fearing girl, jo mandir jaati hai, vrat rakhti hai aur gai ko khaana khilati hai. I think playing that character and discovering that amazing energy that Banaras has, changed me.“

Explaining her need to be away from the crowd on New Year's Eve, Swara says, “I just wanted to see Gangaji and wanted to spend New Year's Eve peacefully, away from all the madness of Mumbai and the shoot. So, I reached in the afternoon, and went straight to Assi Ghat, and stayed in a quiet hotel. I have relatives in Banaras, maine unko bhi nahi bataya that I have come. I spent the whole night at the ghat. In the morning, Himanshu and I went for a boat ride. Then I had a flight in the afternoon because I had to resume shooting. But that one day felt like a lifetime. There's just something about the city, that river, I don't know how to explain it. Ho sakta hai mera kuch purana connection hai Banaras se.“

Swara prefers to visit the city before any major event in her life. “The day Nil Battey Sannata was to release, I was in Banaras. I thought that I should go to the temple before the film releases, and I'm glad the film did so well,“ she says.

A known face now, Swara says that she enjoyed the attention she got from people who recognized her. “It was very funny yaar. Himanshu and I were on the ghats, and I was wearing a shawl with which I had covered my face a bit. But two-three times in the night, groups of boys followed us, and asked, 'Aap Swara Bhaskar hain na?' At first I wanted to deny it, but then I was like, 'Yes, I am Swara'. And then, they said, 'hamein toh vishwaas hi nahi ho raha.' Uske baad toh, of course, selfies and autographs and stuff started, but it was fun,“ she said with a laugh, adding, “But see, I wouldn't face the kind of problem that Shah Rukh or Salman would have. Ab main itni badi star toh hoon nahi.“