Working birthdays, strapped for time, but immensely happy, Ananya Panday wouldn’t trade the eventful 2019 for anything
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 21, 2019)

At 21, Ananya Panday thinks she has already seen the best year of her life. and that year would be 2019, for she not only made a big-ticket debut with Student Of The Year 2 (SOTY 2) but also delivered a hit, Pati Patni Aur Woh. Oh wait! She has also signed a film starring Deepika Padukone, and another film with Ishaan Khatter. So, for someone who has always wanted to be an actor, Ananya might be right when she calls this the best year of her life. Excerpts:

A grand debut and a hit film... How would you sum up 2019?
It’s just been everything I could have dreamt of! The fact that I can finally be an actor and work in this industry is such a privilege and a big deal for me. I think that’s why 2019 will be the best year of my life. I actually got to become an actor. I am just so happy to be working every single day of my life. I was supposed to go on a holiday on my birthday, but I worked. Everyone said ‘We are feeling so bad for you’. I said, ‘No, I am so happy getting to work on my birthday’. I hope I get to work on every birthday for the rest of my life!

And you are working on your next, Khaali Peeli, alongside Ishaan Khatter. How is that shaping up?
Really well. I am super excited, it’s completely different from my two films. Pooja, my character, is different from how I am as a person, how I have lived my life, how I’ve been brought up. As an actor, that’s the most exciting and challenging part, playing someone so different.

Since you are fairly new, have you learned the art of saying ‘no’ yet? Or would you consider everything offered to you?
I will obviously listen to everything everyone has to offer to me, because you never know when a new script can come up. My director Maqbool (Khan; Khaali Peeli) is a first-time director. New directors come up with the best work sometimes. So I think we should listen to everything and everyone once. I don’t want to miss out on anything just because ‘Oh, it’s from someone I don’t know’. I, too, was new at one point and people accepted me.

Are there any roles you won’t do?
I haven’t kept any such barriers for myself. But I won’t be drawn to films that are misogynistic or sexist, or hurtful to any gender, or promoting something morally wrong. Though, it’s normal to play grey or negative characters… I don’t think if the message of the film is wrong, I would do something like that. That’s something I would never be drawn to.

What’s the toughest part about being in showbiz at 21?
For me, it’s balancing out my work with my normal life. Sometimes, I just want to spend time with my family and friends who come to Mumbai twice a year, because they are all studying in America. Therefore, I want to spend every possible moment I have with them. Sometimes I miss out on a lot of things but then, at the end of the day, I’ve wanted this my entire life, so I don’t complain about it.