The year 2021 may mean different things to different people, but to Sanya Malhotra, it’s the year she came into her own. The actor ably shouldered the charming Pagglait, and has been since flitting from one movie set to another. Having recently wrapped up Love Hostel alongside Vikrant Massey and Bobby Deol, she is set to begin filming HIT, the remake of the 2020 Telugu movie of the same name. “I think I manifested a film with Rajkummar [Rao] by wanting it for so long,” she laughs.

Sailesh Kolanu, who helmed the original, will wield the directorial baton for the Hindi adaptation. “I can’t wait to be in front of the camera with Rajkummar. It’s a dream come true,” she says, currently prepping for the cop thriller.

Director Umesh Bist’s black comedy about a young widow was a game-changer for Malhotra. With film announcements pouring in, she is finally reaping the rewards of her efforts since her 2016 debut in Dangal. But she says the shift in perception is hardly noticeable to her. “Even today, I go by the same factors before saying yes to a film. I should buy into the universe of the story, and the character has to speak to me on every level. It’s essential that we chase diverse roles. As actors, it is easy to get complacent with the ordinary, but I would never want to look at a character and go, ‘Arre, yeh toh ho hi jayega.’”

She utilised better part of last year doing acting masterclasses online. Her quest for diverse parts was achieved when she landed on the set of Meenakshi Sundareshwar, her first film post the pandemic. The Netflix project, set in Madurai, revolves around the trials of a young south Indian couple. “The break was important for me to sit and chart out how to approach my characters. For Meenakshi, I prepped extensively — from the look to the twang and the body language.”