Shanaya, Suhana, Ananya and Navya

In an industry where relationships often flicker with the arc lights, Ananya Panday, Suhana Khan, Shanaya Kapoor and Navya Naveli Nanda share a bond that predates their public personas and glamorous debuts. Their friendship isn’t one forged by fame, but one nurtured since childhood — long before red carpets, fan pages, and film offers became part of their vocabulary. They were just little girls then, dressing up in their mothers' saris, mimicking grown-up tea parties and playing make-believe games. From playdates and vacations to stepping into adulthood under a media microscope, these four have grown up together and grown into themselves — with grace and grit, and always cheering for each other.

Ananya made her Bollywood debut first and has since steadily built her career in the film industry. Suhana is a talent waiting to explode, and Shanaya made a fine debut recently. Navya has consciously chosen a path outside showbiz as an entrepreneur and changemaker. But despite their divergent journeys, their bond has remained strong, steady, and refreshingly real.

Talking about their friendship of many years, Ananya says, “We have shared our dreams while growing up, but as much as people think we do, we don't really talk that much about work. We talk about all kinds of things that girls of our age do.”

Ask her what she admires the most about each of her closest friends, and she responds with enthusiasm. “Suhana is very kind and soft-hearted and she gets affected by things very easily. Some people think that ‘sensitive’ is a bad word, but I believe being sensitive is a good quality. As an actor, you need to have sensitivity, and this is Suhana’s huge strength.”

Moving on to Shanaya, who recently made her debut, Ananya adds, “Shanaya is a very strong individual; she can keep going and going, and that’s an admirable quality in her.”

Navya, who chose to stay away from acting despite coming from a legendary film lineage, gets a shoutout too. “Navya is so smart, and she’s found her own path, and that’s amazing. It’s inspiring how she went back to do an MBA. She’s an entrepreneur, has started her own NGO, and has 4-5 businesses running at the same time.”

On a lighter note, we ask Ananya if the four of them were to star in a reality show together twenty years from now, what would it be called, and she bursts into laughter and says, “I don’t know, but we like to call ourselves Charlie's Angels. We actually have a chat group called Ananya's Fans (laughs!). I guess our show could be called Charlie’s Angels.”

This girl gang is a refreshing reminder of the joy of having friends who’ve known you long before the world did.

Ananya, if you were on a road trip with Suhana, Shanaya and Navya, who would take on the following roles:

The Planner: Navya

The Insta Queen: Me

The Adventurer: Shanaya and Navya

The Chiller: Navya and Me

Ananya Panday has navigated fame, criticism, and personal evolution in the public eye. Starting out at 18, today, she’s no longer just the industry’s young entrant — she’s a voice for Gen Z battling the complexities of stardom, social media, and self-worth. In this honest, light-hearted, yet meaningful conversation on Bombay Times Lounge, Ananya talks about the weight and pride of legacy, the nuances of modern relationships and why she’s finally free of the fear of being judged. Over to her...

At the start, I was very eager to please everyone. Even now I am, and I hope that people like me, but I don’t feel the pressure. Earlier, I would take a lot of effort to make everyone happy at the risk of not being myself. I am not scared of judgment anymore, because too much has happened for me to be scared of that. I think I am a lot more comfortable in my skin now.

The people around me keep me grounded. In the beginning, I used to think that if I said something, for instance, in an interview, then things would change. But I realized it doesn’t function like that, and only your work really speaks for everything. People will only come and pay their hard-earned money to watch you if they like your work and if they like you as a person.

Honestly, by the time I was born, my dad wasn’t acting that much, and he wasn’t getting too much work. It wasn’t like my parents were discussing it or aisa kuch chal raha tha ki ghar mein kuch problems hai, because my dad always kept doing something, even if he wasn’t on a film set. But while growing up, I sensed the way people reacted to my friends’ parents who were actors versus my dad. So, I would be like, ‘Oh, maybe there’s something different.’ Maybe in my subconscious, it was there. I learned to appreciate and value what I have in the moment and to also give it my best because you’re not going to keep getting chances. You have only one shot at it really.

I’ve always been the kind of person to acknowledge my privilege. Even when I went on Koffee With Karan for the first time, I said that I know that I’m privileged. I know that there are probably people out there who are more talented, better looking and more hardworking than I am. But now I’ve got this opportunity, and I don’t want to waste it, as this has also been my dream since I was a child. So, I’ve taken the shame out of being privileged and I look at it with a sense of pride. My father was a child of two doctors, and his dream was to become an actor, and he became one. He’s worked for 40-plus years, and if I can carry forward his legacy and make him proud, it will be a very big achievement for me. I don’t want to not be known as Chunky Pandey’s daughter. I’m so proud that he’s my father. I don’t want to look at it as a negative thing anymore because people will always have something to say.

There are days when I feel bogged down, when I read some comment or thread online that’s untrue, I kind of spiral. At the start, I would get really emotional and want to come out and say something. Over time, I think I have developed a thick skin, but at the end of the day, I’m human and I do feel bad. So, I would just say: feel whatever you’re feeling. If someone tells you not to cry, don’t listen to them. It’s okay to have days where you’re crying and you are angry and want to let it out. Bottling it up only makes it worse.

Yes, it happens. I think you make excuses for people, and you think that things will change. That happens with me where I change myself a lot for the person I am with – like I start watching the films he likes or if he dresses a certain way, I start dressing like that, which is not good. Again, it comes from that people-pleasing personality trait that I have. You should actually be yourself, and your partner should accept you for who you are. For me, the biggest red flags are the obvious ones – like cheating, lying, disrespecting you in public and all of that. I think someone who can’t be happy for you when you are doing well is a big red flag, especially for successful women. I also feel bad for men because they are often put under this societal pressure that they need to be a certain way. So, given this societal construct, a lot of people can’t fully be what they want to be and who they want to be.

Ask her about the kind influence Shah Rukh Khan has had in her life, as she’s seen him closely since her childhood days, and she says, “I think the way Shah Rukh Khan handles his personal and professional life -- there’s no one like him. While growing up, I saw first-hand what an amazing father he is to Aryan, Suhana and AbRam and the way he’s been with all of us. He would train us all for our sports day and taekwondo competitions. He was very, very present in what was happening in our lives. Even now, he wants to know what we’re doing and is very involved. Also, when he is talking to you, he has this quality of making you feel that you are the only person in the world. There is no one like him!

Next on Bombay Times Lounge, we have Ananya Panday, the actress who reigns the Gen-Z glam brigade with rizz and charm. She’s the girl who’s not afraid to keep it real — onscreen, on the ‘gram, or in interviews. She adds a dash of fun and spark to everything she does, and there’s no mistaking she’s carved her spot in tinsel town, and she’s owning it with style.During our chat, she had the audience charmed and hooked from the word go. Here’s a quick glimpse of what’s coming up soon on the full episode, which will drop on the Bombay Times YouTube Channel.

Ananya, who has won love and admiration for her recent roles in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, Kesari Chapter 2 and the web series Call Me Bae, admits that in the beginning, her perspective of cinema, was in a way limited, and her priorities different.

“I always wanted to be an actress. I don’t know if other people believed me or thought whether I could be one. When I started out, the kind of cinema that I had watched until then was very different. I was, and I still am a full-on Bollywood bachcha. Earlier, I only knew there’s one way of acting and one kind of movie. My vision was very microscopic and when I started acting, I was just happy that I was on the big screen. I was singing, dancing and doing all those things that I’ve seen growing up. But with more films and more roles, now I’ve fallen in love with the craft of acting,” she says.

“Now, I enjoy going deeper a lot more. I want to challenge myself. People keep differentiating between commercial cinema and offbeat cinema. I think both are equally tough. People tell me, 'Oh, you have done a film like Kesari Chapter 2, it must have been so challenging',” says Ananya.

She adds, “Even commercial cinema with all the singing, lip-syncing, dancing, and the look of being in love with those glossy eyes – all of that is also a form of acting. It requires as much effort, if not more. It took me time to get comfortable in my space. In my first few films, I was very nervous. I would just do whatever the director asked me to. Gehraiyaan, changed that, it was like a turning point.”

It’s no secret that Ananya is part of B-Town’s coolest girl gang — with Suhana Khan, Shanaya Kapoor and Navya Naveli Nanda. Her face lights up as she talks about her besties – their bond and shared dreams.

She recalls, “We’ve been acting in our own way since we were kids. We would play this game called Ad-Ad where one person would be the judge, and the rest of us had to create an ad for a product and present it to the judge. We played this for years. We would spy on our moms and see what they’re doing at their tea party and then come back and imitate them. When I look at some of those videos now, I am like…what were we doing? We all shared our dreams.”

Seeing her friends chase their paths fills her with pride. “It felt surreal seeing Suhana in The Archies, Shanaya is soon going to make her debut. It’s admirable how Navya has turned an entrepreneur and has chosen her own path.”

I am a romantic at heart and I love everything about love. I believe in 90s kind of love, not the running away from home and all that, but more like pyaar dosti hai and that one person is your everything. I’m quite a hopeless romantic!

“I was going to say good looks, good looks, good looks! (laughs). On a serious note, I’d say someone who is very funny. I need to be laughing all the time because my dad (Chunky Panday) has always made me laugh. Someone who can be a friend and a great companion above everything else, because I believe pyaar dosti hai, however, cliche it sounds. And a man who treats everyone equally and with respect. Good looks can come in fourth! (laughs)”

Where are the rom-coms? That has been a frequent question asked by Hindi cinema fans in the past few years. It’s something Ananya Panday too was missing being part of. Which explains her next two offerings — Chand Mera Dil opposite Lakshya, and the second season of her popular series Call Me Bae.

“We’ll shoot Call Me Bae’s second season soon. I just wrapped a chunk of Chand Mera Dil, which is an out-and-out romantic film. I’ve done films in a cutesy space, but never featured in a dramatic love story,” she tells us.

With director Vivek Soni’s romantic drama and the Amazon Prime Video series, Panday is consciously gravitating towards stories that exude warmth and comfort. Her reason is simple — we can all do with a dose of joy.

She says, “Bae could have been easily classified as an entitled character, but I wanted people to connect with her. She is a mood-booster, when so much of the content right now is action. We underestimate the value of feel-good cinema. Playing Bae was healing for me in ways I didn’t expect. I want my films to make the audience feel the same kind of calm, joy, and reassurance that the character gave me.”

The actor started out with the mainstream campus caper, Student Of The Year 2 (2019). Six years and several acclaimed films later, her criteria for choosing projects are clear today.

“I don’t want to be part of something because I feel it will be a box-office hit. I have to see an opportunity there as an actor. Also, the older I’m getting, the more I feel the responsibility of making decisions. Every time I watch a movie, I buy into it strongly. So, I know the direct impact that cinema has on people. That’s why I have to be part of films that morally align with me. That doesn’t mean I won’t play an evil character, but the [messaging] should be morally correct.”

Playing rooted characters in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023) and CTRL (2024) has made young women identify with her. Mention this, and Panday squeals with joy, “I am a girl’s girl. As a young girl, I [remember] how much I used to admire Kareena [Kapoor Khan] and Alia [Bhatt]. When someone tells me that their daughter loves me, it makes me the happiest.”

Please don’t judge for what the algorithm throws on my Instagram, but I have seen videos of paparazzi calling for Ananya Panday’s attention, yelling, “ACP, ACP, ACP…”

WTF is ACP, we naturally ask Ananya, who goes, “Full props to paps for creativity.” 

She was once stepping out of the Mumbai Police’s annual gala, named Umang, where it occurred to photographers posted outside to call her ACP, as in, Assistant Commissioner of Police.

The name stuck. Sometimes they call her Bae. Meaning, the Prime Video series, Call Me Bae, that she headlined in 2024. 

“But there, they go, a-bey, abey, eh,” Ananya says. Sounds crass. She doesn’t like that so much. She likes ACP. As in, which is what I first thought, ‘Ananya Chunky Panday’, since it’s a common practice to use father’s name as middle name.

Chunky, as in the Bollywood star, from the ’80s. He has a brother called Chikki, who I had the privilege of knowing, at some point—a businessman, I realized, who was the go-to guy for many in Bollywood, if they ever got into trouble with the government, or wanted some issue or the other fixed, pronto—with customs, police, excise, etc.

Chunky, Chikki, these are kinda weird names, too, no?

Ananya laughs, “My father is Suyash. Chikki chachu is actually Alok. They keep telling me stories of how they got their [pet] names, but I don’t believe them.”

“My dad says he was very chunky, when he was born. Which is not true. He was a stick [figure]. Chachu says he loved eating chikki.” But then you don’t start out eating chikki as an infant, when you get named, anyway.

Chunky calls Ananya, Wazi: “It’s strange. He calls my mom and my sister, and now our dog, Wazi, too. I think he fears that he’ll forget our names.”

Sticking to Insta reels still, the one with Ananya that went the most viral, actually, had to do with her co-actor, from Gehraiyaan (2022), Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023), Siddhant Chaturvedi, over a round-table conversation, with young actors, discussing nepotism in the film industry.

Ananya was roughly making a point about how nepotism may be too blanket a term. Which is when Siddhant chimed in with the now-famous line, “When their struggles begin, is when our dreams get realized!” With a foot in the door of the film industry, after all.

“I think Siddhant had just written that line in a hidden notebook, and was simply waiting to blurt it out,” Ananya laughs. 

To add, “I can joke about this, because he is one of my closest friends in the industry. This insider-outsider is such a dividing line, anyway. What I was trying to say is everybody has a different story. You have to eventually resonate with audiences. And many people with film backgrounds, don’t; several from outside, do.”

To think of it, while her father Chunky was indeed a star—his stardom years would probably hover between the mid-80s to early ’90s—“films like Vishwatma, Aankhen, Tezaab…”

Ananya knew of them, but ever since she was born, in 1998, “he had moved on to negative parts, and ‘character-actor’ roles.” 

Back in the day, we also used to hear about Chunky being a super-star in Bangladesh! Not that I’ve seen any of Chunky’s Bangladeshi films; fair then to wonder if it’s even true? 

Ananya says, “I have met his fans from Bangladesh. It’s definitely true.”

We actually got to Ananya’s name-business in the conversation, because of Saif Ali Khan’s daughter, Sara, who went to Dhirubhai Ambani International School, with Ananya. But would choose to never call her by her name. She’d just say, “Aye”. As in not the first letter of Ananya. Just, “Aye,” for anonymous.

From Ananya’s account, Sara comes across as quite the vicious senior. If Ananya saw Sara coming down the steps in school, she’d just take the other staircase: “She was so ‘mufat’ [loud-mouth], I was always scared of what she’ll say to me.” 

They did a play together, where Sara was the lead, and Ananya would hold the umbrella for her.

They, of course, get along famously now. Sara had just texted Ananya for her stellar performance in Vikramaditya Motwane’s CTRL (2024), before we began this episode of Sit with Hitlist, wondering how much older Ananya was from Sara, since she’s the youngest to feature in this series; with Sara, before her.

“She’ll kill me if I told you [how old is Sara],” Ananya smiles. But when you’re in school together, you will know, if you’re in Class V. Well, Sara was in Class VIII then—debuting in films in 2018, with Kedarnath. The same year Janhvi Kapoor debuted with Dhadak. 

Together, the three could form the top female trio of GenZ leads in Bollywood, currently. To give you a sense of the passage of time, when Sit with Hitlist started (in 2017, with Aamir Khan), none of them were professional actors.

Ananya belongs to Bollywood’s class of 2019, starting with Student Of The Year (SOTY) 2—Karan Johar’s teeny-bopper franchise, aimed at introducing fresh faces in mainstream Hindi films. 

Ananya claims her jaw dropped, when she first saw Alia Bhatt, similarly, enter the screen with SOTY. That’s her inspiration. Ever since she can remember, Ananya maintains she’d always wanted to be a Bollywood heroine.

“My dad had a handy-cam, with a rotating screen—a selfie, before the selfie. I was obsessed with performing lines and songs before it. Even at birthday parties, nobody had to ask—I would just dance for everyone.”

For further proof of the Bollywood bug, Ananya informs she has three things stuck on the wall of her vanity van: “A picture of Lolo [Karisma Kapoor]. A picture of Salman Khan. And [Kareena Kapoor’s] line [from Jab We Met]: Mein apni favourite hoon.” 

That’s what she admiringly gazes at, every day, before stepping out that van-door, to shoot! Which kinda also explains the early moves in her career, besides SOTY 2, of course. 

It’s the sort of work that should ideally fetch you a poster in the backseat of an autorickshaw—the old barometer for a heroine’s success in fan-culture: “Oh, it hasn’t happened to me yet. Please do send me, if you find one [i.e., a pic of hers on either side of an auto-rickshaw seat].” 

Just putting it out there, if you do find one. With her subsequent films, hence, Ananya went full-on small-town. For instance, as the hot distraction for a married man in Pati Patni Aur Woh, a rustic remake of the Sanjeev Kumar classic, that was a decent hit, with Kartik Aaryan.

Likewise, she was off to Mathura/Agra in Dream Girl 2. Not that realism was the film’s strong suit, it was still a world quite far removed for a Bandra-bred. 

Ananya says, “I’m a director’s actor. In the sense of absorbing instructions, or their insights into small-town. That apart, just walking around, shopping for mithai, being on the boat in Mathura, for a live location, gives you a feel of the world, pretty quickly.”

She could’ve carried on the same way—made it in life, though maybe not with glowing reviews. Critical acclaim doesn’t equal crores, anyway. 

Only, a certain “switch” happened in her career, wherein you can seamlessly observe an Ananya, who’s so un-Ananya—going deeper into roles, with effortlessly subtle, character-driven cinema, reflecting zeitgeist, or spirit of the times. 

What was that switch? Ananya describes it quite precisely: “[Director] Shakun Batra. He taught me to develop my process as an actor [with Gehraiyaan]. We did workshops together, with Siddhant, Deepika [Padukone]. 

“Even though I wasn’t playing the central part, I got to build a backstory for a character, that won’t even be seen on the screen. I inculcated all of that into my own training, for all my films [thereafter].”

She clearly remembers going up to meet Shakun (Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Kapoor & Sons), first. “As you know, I’m a complete Hindi film person. I was really nervous. I thought he would be some hi-fi intellectual. So, I watched two Polish movies, to talk to him…”

Which two Polish films? “Now, I can’t remember their names,” Ananya says. Going back to Insta reels, she’s convinced this bit of the conversation will start getting shared online. The same way she got trolled, when she once admitted she hadn’t watched The Godfather!

As with Indian cinema and Satyajit Ray, among film buffs globally, Polish cinema gets most instantly associated with director Krzysztof Kieślowski. 

I wonder if she’d seen one of Kieślowski’s films? I bring up later in the chat. “Yes, [Kieślowski’s] Red was one of the films I’d seen.”

So, if the first clip from the video of this conversation does get passed around for trolling purposes, only fair that this second part is added to it too. Just saying. That said, Ananya sighs in relief, “Shakun turned out to be so chill. He’s from Delhi. My boy, basically.”

It’s not like Ananya hadn’t been through a workshop process with her debut, under Dharma Productions. But that was different. 

“I was 18. That workshop was mainly to open me up to the camera—learn [to tell] the wide-shot, from close-up. Tiger [Shroff; co-star in SOTY 2] would literally move me around, to take my mark, catch the light. I had no idea.”

She adds, “Contrary to popular perception that I grew up [in the film industry]—my dad took me to a set, only once.” That was some picture, Ananya recalls, titled “Fresh Lime or something”, which never got released—a common phenomenon, couple of decades ago. 

Gehraiyaan, for instance, was possibly the first Indian film to engage an ‘intimacy coordinator’ on the set, to execute lovemaking scenes: “It’s a must for every set. It’s about consent. But beyond that, I was too conscious as an actor, too self-aware—diligent, teacher’s pet, doing as told.”

“Which is what I’d be with Punit [Malhotra, director of SOTY 2]. But I may not find that with every director, Shakun told me. So, I had to develop a voice of my own—do a [self-interpreted] ‘take, for the love’, which might make it to the movie.”

This making of Un-Ananya involved “workshops with acting instructor, Atul Mongia, who makes you go deep into inner emotions; voice-coaching with a training institute called Strictly Speaking, breathing exercises….”

There is training on “physicality and movements” that she’s undergoing right, currently, for a 1920s period project she’s working on—that “she’s dying to talk about”, but has been forbidden from. Fair enough.

The filmography that followed Gehraiyaan speaks for itself. Okay, there was that ludicrous Liger that happened after, too. Seriously, what the hell was that? Let’s not talk about it? “You don’t have to, it’s fine,” Ananya mutters.

We move on, to: Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (KGHK), CTRL (pronounced Control), Call Me Bae (CMB). The latter is a fully frivolous/fluffy series, about a ditsy damsel, going through two lives, offline, and on the Internet. “I’m even shocked that you’ve seen it,” Ananya qualifies. 

True. I may not the TG (target group), but there is a flip that occurs somewhere towards the end of third episode of CMB, with commentary on TV news media (which is a spoof of itself), that gives the show, proper legs to stand on, thence. Apart from the accepted genre, of course.

Ananya agrees, “It’s the kinda content, I’d wanna watch, as an audience. Whether or not I’m in it. That’s what I look at [in a script], now.”

For all the fluff, Call Me Bae had something to say. “And it’s aligned with my beliefs, very strongly. Sometimes, as an actor, you’re told not to speak up so much. Or to not get political. But when you can do that, with your work, it’s so beautiful! You also reach a much wider audience.” 

Besides fine music, great performances—particularly Ananya’s; so viscerally easygoing, and easy on the eye—what’s common to KGHK, CMB and CTRL?

That she goes through heartbreak, each time! “That’s my signature. Salman Khan takes his shirt off [onscreen]. I get cheated on! I don’t want it,” Ananya laughs.

Jokes apart, what else is common between KGHK, CMB and CTRL? GenZ, and its relationship, with technology. Or, social media, to be more precise, that totally drives the mediascape, if not the world, circa 2024.

Ananya reasons, “I know people are seeing them as a trilogy of technology movies. That wasn’t the plan. But being a GenZ, these topics are attractive to me, to talk about—and that no one in cinema is [doing it]. It’s been under-represented—technology is the third part of everyone’s lives.” 

Who else to frame such films but a GenZ herself. Making Ananya also the right person, at the right place, time and age, 25, taking the new-turn, on the Bollywood front. 

For a film like CTRL, for instance, where she’s in every single scene—as a young, tech-savvy YouTuber, switching between devices/screens—Ananya herself would be as much a muse as the maal (research) for the movie, no? 

At an experiential level, she certainly knows more about the world being surveyed than the writer-director (Vikramaditya Motwane) himself. She agrees. Which is why she was brought onboard the writing process as well. 

“There was a writers’ retreat in Goa with Vikram, screenwriter Avinash [Sampat], Sumukhi Suresh [the dialogue writer]. And I was called over to sit in on the discussions. That’s when I’d make suggestions, too. Such as the fact that the [lead’s] name should be Nalini, and that she’s trying to fit in, and be cool, by calling herself Nella, instead.”

Just as Bae is actually Bella, in CMB? “In hindsight now, they sound similar. It didn’t feel like that, when I was shooting them, though,” Ananya smiles. CTRL was shot over 16 days, with work on edit, for screen-life genre, that took 16 months!

Ananya says, “The shoot itself had no green screens. The way you saw you it is the way we filmed it. In the sense of me holding two phones [one as prop, and the other as camera]. I got to design the AI [emoji] I talk to in the film too. Which is not the version in the final film.”

For inspiration for her three top films, lately—where Ananya plays a social media fiend/influencer—she’d have to look no further than her own family.

Her first cousin, Alanna Panday (Chikki’s daughter), who—much like Bae, and her bae, in CMB—publicly channels her complete married life, with her partner, Ivor, through their YouTube channel (1.4 million subscribers), and on Instagram (2 million-plus followers).

Alanna and Ivor recently got themselves a multi-part reality series, The Tribe, that dropped on Prime Video. Albeit more as a Bollywood star, rather than a content-creator type, Ananya herself metaphorically leads 25 million followers on Instagram.

I wonder what she makes of the influencer culture herself, while very much a part of it, in a sense.

She says, “I see it with Alanna and her husband. They put out every part of their lives. You’re never present; in the moment. It’s hard work. And then you see what works [online]. So, maybe, you’re not into PDA [public display of affection], but there’s traction, so you do it. As actors, we don’t have to be so public.”

Ananya’s a phone addict, nonetheless. Like so many of us. Her mother, Bhavana, though, she says, is more cued in to social media. Bhavana, of course, became quite the reality TV star through the Netflix series, Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives.

By the way, that’s where I first saw this thing called the Paris Debutants’ Ball, with Maheep and Sanjay Kapoor’s daughter, Shanaya, on the ballroom floor, among supposed global elites. Sorry to sound terribly middle-class, but WTF is a debutants’ ball—a Jane Austenian matchmaking soiree?

I ask this to Ananya, because she debuted on the social scene, similarly, in Paris, with the same event, that lists Vanity Fair as its title sponsor. Vanity Fair organises this?

“I’m actually not good with these things [details]—it gets covered in Vanity Fair, yes. Honestly, when my mom first got this invite over mail, she thought it was a prank.

“What I really liked about it is that, well, I didn’t study abroad. I see that with my sister [Rysa], who goes to Tisch [School of the Arts] in New York, and gets to interact with people from all parts of the world. I got to do that at the ball. Then, it’s also the first time we went through camera, hair, make-up—it was a training of sorts.”

What is it, though? “I was 17. As were everyone else—Reese Witherspoon’s daughter, Ava; [comedian] Steve Harvey’s daughter, Lori; the guy [with me] was the prince of Sweden, that I found out later… They pick 20 girls from across the world. We are all in touch.”

I’m guessing a networking event for the young then, and their folks, perhaps.

It’s easy to tell how Ananya would’ve easily fit in, though. There’s a natural gal-pal quality about her. Not that I’m friends with too many her age—but you can tell.

Also, as she fills you in on her family friends, or BFFs, as it were: Shanaya, Navya Naveli (Amitabh Bachchan’s grand-daughter), Suhana (Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter).

Their WhatsApp group is called Charlie’s Angels. There’s another one, Ananya’s Fans: “Named by me, of course,” she says.

Her fans online, incidentally, are called ‘Ananyans’! She provides them a fair peek into her life, through paps, and posts online. This is stuff that makes showbiz, showbiz, anyway.

Outside of that, I think there’s a relatable side to Ananya as a pure conversationalist. She might look a bit of an insouciant space-cadet. Which was my impression of her—changed totally by the fact of how she chats so unaffectedly. To the point that when our hour-long time’s up, she goes, “What? It’s over? Weren’t you gonna ask me about Orry?”

Did tell her that I would. Because we saw a coaster lying in the coffee-table of the studio that said ‘Orly’—shortened form of ‘Oh, really?” We misread that as Orry, before the chat began. 

So, since she asked for it—may as well educate readers on the existentialist query, “Who the hell is Orry?” We mean the social media influencer, who’s only papped with movie-stars, except, nobody knows what he does for a living.

Ananya and Orry are, evidently, friends. And I don’t mean the question in terms of the phenomenon itself—of people famous, for being famous. Instagram is simply the new Page 3. But, no, we must know—who is Orry?

Ananya says, “I’ve known him 10 years.” Where did she meet him? “At a nightclub called Tryst [in Lower Parel]. He’d come with common friends.”

Who was this common friend? “Can’t remember. I think Shanaya. But he’s been friends with all of us—much before we became actors. He went to college in LA, with Janhvi. He was in the same year, if not the same class, with Sara, in school.”

Sara went to Dhirubhai. Ananya tells me, “He’s a South Bombay boy, who went to Cathedral [School].” And then she adds, “I’ve known Orry for a decade, but I still don’t know what his family looks like.”

“Whatever he’s doing is working [for him]. I could make a five-minute documentary on Orry and you still won’t know who he is. He’ll always be a mystery.” Okay then. Or, well, whatever.

“He's one of my favourite filmmakers,” insists Ananya Panday, alluding to director Vikramaditya Motwane when we ask her about what drew her to CTRL, their new film that will premiere on Netflix on October 4. Panday counts Jubilee, Motwane’s tribute to the Hindi film industry of the 1940s and 1950s, the self-reflexive AK vs AK and Udaan among her favourites. “Udaan is my mom’s [Bhavana Pandey’s] favourite film and we used to watch it a lot when I was growing up. I must have seen it close to 20 times with her.”

The other reason for being part of CTRL was Screenlife, a form of visual storytelling in which events are shown entirely on a computer, tablet or smartphone screen. “Eighty-ninety per cent of the story [of CTRL] takes place on a computer screen and all the storytelling is through mediums that we use on our computers, like searches, video calls or Instagram—things we spend a lot of our time on,” Motwane shares.

Though films such as Her and Terminator have explored human dependency on and relinquishing of control to technology and influenced science fiction culture, the Screenlife format influenced Motwane specifically  as it is “essentially [about] peeping into somebody’s life”. The offer, he says, came from Timur Bekmambetov, the Russian-Kazakh director, producer, screenwriter and tech entrepreneur who pioneered Screenlife films such as Unfriended (2015), Searching (2018), Profile (2018) and Missing (2023).

“Everyone on set was discovering how to shoot this film because we didn’t really have a template to follow. Everyone was making mistakes together and learning together,”

Panday says, recalling a fluid and immersive experience where Motwane would let the takes run on for long. “I also felt very responsible because there were parts where the camera was in my hand and I was shooting. There were many things I had to figure out, but it was a nice, happy and safe environment.”

Panday plays Nella Awasthi, a social media influencer from Delhi who runs the channel NJOY with her boyfriend Joe. Reluctant to pursue the path her parents laid out for her, Nella moves to Mumbai and forms a professional and personal relationship with Joe, both of which crumble with adultery. “It was interesting to see how a person would deal with a situation differently as a result of being in the spotlight [as a influencer] with different factors addressing them,” Panday observes. 

The actor may be a part of the social media generation but is not an influencer, and hence, had to immerse herself into the life of a vlogger and influencer to understand the implications of the job, its stakes and demands.

“As an actor, the content I put out on my Instagram is related to movies, personal life or brands. I don’t know what it’s like if that were my job and if that was the way I was making money. Then the stakes would be [higher]. Understanding that part of it was prep,” she shares.  

Panday’s character lives a life, specifically a romantic life, in front of millions of people. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023) too saw her as part of a group of characters grappling with the ironies of the digital age where private lives are lived very publicly. “I think my opinion on [the private-public paradox] is constantly evolving,” says the 25-year-old.

“I don’t have any hard and fast rule. Sometimes I feel like protecting things and keeping things private because I feel so much of my life is any way out there. If there’s something that I can keep for myself, then I would love to do that, but I’m also not ashamed of anything or trying to hide anything. I understand that it’s a part and parcel of our job. There will be interest from people because we are public figures and I’m also interested in knowing about my favourite actors, what they do, what’s in their bag, what their house looks like, etc. So I don’t blame other people [for being interested], but if I can protect things, I do try to.”

Motwane’s interest lay in exploring the workings of AI and social media through the life of someone brought up on the internet, from the perspective of “what I think is a love story”. He believes that diversification of content on streaming platforms has primed the audience for high concept films, content that is more cerebral and challenging, and yet fun and accessible.

“When you go to any service now, there’s everything on offer—comedy, drama, crime, true crime, and that’s what’s also made the audience more open, learned and experienced about things to watch.” 

For creators, streaming services mean that one doesn’t have to stick to a one-size-fits-all projects. “Ten or 15 years ago, cinema meant you had to make a movie of a certain length for an audience that’s going to be a kind of mass-y. Old, young, rich, poor—all were going to come and watch your film together… [But] there was also a necessity, once upon a time, to go to a movie theatre to catch something [niche] and that necessity is gone, which is not always good. It’s affected indie films more than it’s affected mainstream movies because the urgency of going to watch a movie in the theatre is gone. Streaming services are convenient, but is it really the best thing for the movies?”

Why is there no Indian alternative to Emily In Paris? Or maybe there is, in Ananya Panday’s Call Me Bae. The upcoming comedy tells the story of a rich heiress, Bae, who suddenly finds herself without her fortune and privilege. Tell Panday that her maiden web series’ premise reminds one of Legally Blonde (2001), 2 Broke Girls and Schitt’s Creek, and she says it has a bit of all of them.

“We need comfort shows and films. Happiness is highly underrated after a long day. You don’t always want to finish your day with something intense; sometimes, you want to be soothed. This show also helped me explore my comic timing. I loved this script. I read all eight episodes in one night,” she says.

To build her character—whom she describes as “positive, kind and uber rich”—for the Collin D’Cunha-directed series, Panday relied on the script, and some of her favourite feel-good movies. She, however, quickly adds, “But when I was acting, I avoided all of my favourites. Bae is culturally contextualized. I went into her relationships and her backstory. Karan [Johar, producer] is right, Bae could easily be a mini Poo.”

What was most important to the actor was to humanize the character. “Bae is a product of a great writers’ room. Plus, women telling women’s stories really benefits this. Women characters feel so well-rounded. There is a scene where she is talking to her bag. It seems ridiculous to people, but to Bae, that’s the only way she can let out what she is feeling. Imagine a girl so lonely that on her birthday, the only thing she can talk to is her Louis Vuitton bag! Her vulnerabilities make her who she is. She is lonely and was invisibilized.”

The Prime Video offering is also a Mumbai story in a way. Through the Delhi-based protagonist who begins her life anew in Mumbai, the story shows us the city’s hustle culture.

Panday agrees that hustle is “not a far-away life” for her. “A lot of people I know aren’t from the film industry. For me, as an actor who has friends here, I know the landlord stories, the deposit issues and [I have] the awareness that to make it [big here] is difficult and aspirational for many.”

In the past, the actor has attempted comedies. But on this one, she has teamed up with International Emmy-winning comic-actor Vir Das, an experience that she says sharpened her comic skills. “We didn’t meet till we were on set. We started shooting together, and I was reacting naturally to everything. There is one upmanship between the two characters, and I, as Ananya, was getting thrown off. On screen, Vir is playing a deliciously villainous character, but he is so warm off camera.”

Her heiress-turned-hustler act in Call Me Bae, however, furthers the idea that Panday chooses urban narratives and isn’t exactly a natural fit for massy stories. This, even though her filmography includes Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019) and Dream Girl 2 (2023). Does she avoid heartland stories? The actor has a different take on the matter.

“There is no one way to be relatable. Even if you don’t look like them, a story can make you relate to them. For instance, Korean films work for us because human emotions are universal. I don’t want to limit myself to doing certain characters from a certain location. You don’t need a certain kind of story to be remembered. I want people to revisit my work. Sometimes shows like Sex And The City are watched again and again, because they don’t take themselves seriously. People watch comedies and think it’s easy to do them, but it’s not. After Kho Gaye Hum Kahan [2023] and Bae, I am challenging myself and I am not getting attached to labels.”

Adarsh Gourav, Ananya Panday and Siddhant Chaturvedi star in the upcoming Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, a film that explores the trappings of the digital age. Seen here with Avanti Nagral

We are at the Netflix office. The cast of Kho Gaye Hum Kahan—Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Adarsh Gourav—who play Ahana (an MBA corporate professional in love), Imaad (a stand-up comic) and Neil (a fitness trainer)—are checking their phones and hair in between interviews. “I don’t even have to pretend for this photo,” says Pandey as she poses with her phone, typing away. The movie, which releases on Netflix on December 26, follows the lives of the three friends as they navigate work, love, self-worth—all while living in a world that is slave to social media.

And so, we got creator, influencer and singer Avanti Nagral to sit down and speak to them about some of the major themes in the movie—stalking, comparisons, trolls, and identity. Nagral has a dual degree from Harvard University and the Berklee College of Music, and uses her social network to talk about gender and youth issues. What ensued was a “therapy session” as Chaturvedi put it. 

Siddhant Chaturvedi: Actually, I haven’t felt so found before.

Adarsh Gourav: I feel like I always space out… every 10-15 minutes, I space out.

Ananya Pandey: What? I have been thinking you are such a good listener…

SC: I keep it private. I also feel that I don’t have much to show, I am boring! Everything is through my characters, through cinema. That’s how I would like to be remembered. Otherwise, I am a boy next door, ordinary.

AN: But you do share some thoughts with small snippets as @siddychats on Instagram. 

SC: Yes! More than my pictures, I like to write so I share my thoughts. I validate my thoughts, but I also connect with the [ones in the] world who relate to them.  It’s a conversation through text. That’s the maximum I can go. There was a point when I was doing a lot—after my first film (Gully Boy). I was receiving a lot of love, and so I was like, let’s be out there. But I got done with it soon. I said no, I need to work on myself as an actor, and the more I keep myself private, I can do that. Anyway, we have so much competition from creators like you who are killing it. I can’t do that so well—the way you guys do. I have taken a back seat. I will talk to people through cinema; that’s my thing.

AP: I think the attempt has been to be as real as possible—without giving away too much of my personal life. But when I am on it, I am real. So many young girls come up to me and say they relate to me, and that’s a win. I have always owned up to my mistakes, and not been afraid to mess up, or say something wrong. I am like cool, I said the wrong thing, I will be careful next time.

AP: It was much of the same. Cyber bullying is so rampant but no one was talking about it at that time. Most people didn’t know how to deal with things—numbers you could call if you were being bullied at school or something. It was about starting a conversation.

AN: Kudos to you, Ananya. Adarsh, your first film was 13 years ago. You have been in the limelight… 

AG: I came into the limelight after The White Tiger… I was more interested in being a singer before.

AG: You try to find yourself in every character you play, but I also try to play characters that are different from me. When life gets hectic, you can escape, and adopt another person’s problems. That’s exciting. I need to be constantly stimulated and get bored easily. Being an actor and singer fulfills all my needs.

AP: It’s always easy!

SC: Unless you like someone’s picture as you are stalking…

 

AP: The more we keep our dating lives personal, the more real they feel. That’s one of the only parts of my life that I can protect; everything else is out there. Adarsh is very open about his relationship and comfortable doing that. I am somewhere in the middle—it depends on who you are with. It depends on the day too! Some days you want to scream from the rooftops, and some days you are like, no one can see this.

AG: There is not much to hide! It’s chill only.

SC: All the time! I make sure that I do not. I do express myself on social media, and I do say what I feel bending the front of poetry. There is no name, no picture, and people can connect to it. I channelize my need for expression towards my partner in art so that other people can connect. 

SC: There is an ethical and legal line for sure! 

SC: As an artiste, everything is always a grey zone. There is no black or white—and that’s where the fun is. There is no way to be preachy about it; you can explore as much as you can. Sometimes it may be wrong, but if I need to derive something from my life and out it through a character, I use it. For example, I don’t smoke [in real life], but in this film I do.

AG: (Laughs out loud)

SC: Okay, okay. For Gully Boy and this film, I had to start smoking. So, I did. And it’s hard to let go of that—and I am struggling with that. I am being honest. But whatever is needed for the character, I do it. Even Ananya had to.

AP: Yes. We were all given tasks for the movie—Adarsh had to build his body, Sid had to learn to [do] stand-up [comedy]. I had to smoke. And I couldn’t light a cigarette! 

SC: There were so many bodily changes. Adarsh can speak about those...

AG: I kept farting! I had to eat so many eggs and have so much chicken! But after I stopped working out, I became dysmorphic. Before, I think about my body so much, but now I wonder why I am not as ripped as I was in the film. But I am not playing a trainer in my next movie. However, your mind gets so used to that beautiful image… it’s the best you have ever looked.  

 

AP: Before social media, it was school, where people would say you are too hairy or too thin. My only attempt is to be kinder to myself. When I started out, I was on a very strict diet. I would cheat on Sunday, and I would fall sick because I ate so much. I thought I had to look a certain way and was depriving myself. But I became kinder to myself. When I look at my younger sister, I never want her to feel the way I did, or for that matter, any young person. The only thing I can do is be positive about my body, and hope people get inspired by that.

 

AP: I related with Ahana. If you think I was natural, it was because it wasn’t acting. I miss Ahana. She helped me deal with so much that I was going through in my own personal life. 

SC: For me, it was Adarsh’s character, Neil. The family dynamic he has in the movie, is very close to my own family. When I read the script, I called Arjun (the director) and asked him, how did you crack Neil’s character. He is from London, how could he have know all this? The details are so minute—that’s when I knew he was going to be a great director. My own character was great, but I choose characters that are not close to who I am in real life. I can’t play myself in a movie. 

AG: It’s boring na!

SC: Yes, it’s boring.

AG: By the way, Ahana is not like Ananya at all. I related to Neil and my client in the movie, who never wants to work out.

AP: Just go hug your friends, and don’t let go. Like, in a non-creepy way.

SC: Leave them eventually.

AG: Please celebrate your birthday with your family. Don’t abandon your birth givers. 

SC: Just be yourself, guys. The world is very noisy. Just chill and be yourself. There is so much gyan on Reels anyway. Tum log bas maje karo.

Ananya Panday is excited to celebrate Christmas, and every year, she looks forward to decorating her tree herself. In a chat, the young actress shared fond memories of the festive celebrations, thanked the Santa in life for fulfilling her wishes and looked back at the year that was. Excerpts:

I worked non-stop through the year, so I am definitely taking some time off and spending it with my close ones. Some of my friends are coming back from the US, and I am looking forward to the school reunion over good food and lots of laughter.

Christmas has always been special. We used to have a week-long funfair in school, and we would eagerly wait for it. The festival was all about family time, too, where my chachi would host Christmas lunch every year. At home, my sister and I have a tradition of putting up and decorating the Christmas tree together every year while listening to some festive numbers. But I had to do it alone this year as she was away. While it’s all about merriment, I am slowly realizing that Christmas is also about giving back. It comes right at the end of the year and is a celebration of love and togetherness.

Of course! From the tooth fairy to Santa Claus, I believed in all of them, and to date, I choose to believe they exist (laughs). During Christmas, I would hang stockings and leave cookies and milk outside the door for Santa. And I used to wake up to a lot of gifts in the morning. I knew that it was my dad (Chunky Panday), who was surprising me with the presents, but I would still pretend that these came from Santa. I would just bat my eyelids, make a puppy dog face and receive gifts from him. Once, I remember I had pleaded for two pet dogs, and he got them. My dad has been the best Santa for me!

Hrithik Roshan undoubtedly would be the hottest Santa. I would like to be a secret Santa to Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor’s daughter. I would definitely like to meet her and surprise her with a special gift on her first Christmas.

If there’s one year that could be defined as a rollercoaster ride, I think it would be this year. I am very grateful that 2022 began with Gehraiyaan. The film and my character Tia got a lot of love. The subject was such that it led to many debates. I think that’s what cinema is all about; it needs to spark discussions and debates. The year was also a lot about learning… learning how to move on, to improve myself and get better. It’s also been about learning how to pick myself up when I fall down and come back stronger.

In some ways, 'Liger' is an opportunity that doesn’t come easily to a young actor — to be able to debut all over again, this time, in multiple languages. But four-film-old Ananya Panday is assured as she, along with Vijay Deverakonda, fronts director Puri Jagannadh’s multi-lingual that will introduce her to a wider audience across the country.

“Deciding to do the film was daunting,” she admits, right at the start of our chat. “I was stepping out of my comfort zone, and learning the tropes of a new set-up and film vocabulary. Puri sir and Vijay held my hand throughout. Thankfully, my character is speaking in Hindi mostly, so the language wasn’t much of a barrier.”

When you’ve got Deverakonda in the cast, the attention can tilt towards him, given his fan following. Does she worry about being overshadowed? “Oh, you should hear it when he enters a venue,” she laughs, clearly delighted with her co-star’s popularity.

“But it doesn’t make me feel insecure. He is kind, humble, and different from his on-screen persona. Our conversations have led me to believe that I have found a friend in him. I am not insecure about him because seeing him get that love makes me happy. He deserves all of it. On the first day we shot together, he re-shot a complex fight sequence only to help me perform my scene better. That’s an honest artiste right there!”

Panday, who started the year with 'Gehraiyaan', was praised for bringing restraint to her character in the relationship drama. Shakun Batra’s film, she says, has empowered her as an artiste. “People liked my character and performance. It’s all thanks to Shakun. Being in a massy film like Liger requires a lot of confidence and [a lack of] inhibitions. With 'Gehraiyaan', I overcame the fear of being judged, and that showed in 'Liger'. I don’t want to be scared of judgment. I have started young, and I don’t want the audience or myself to get bored of my work. When you start early, you are unprepared for the love you’ll get or the hate you’ll see. I was 18 when I began, and the hate hit me then. I felt lonely and isolated. But I have realised that to keep doing good work [is the answer]. Nothing speaks louder than that.”

Though Chunky Panday has spent over three decades in the industry, his daughter Ananya Panday often turns to her mother Bhavna for advice for the projects she picks up. In fact, in one of her previous chats, she had even told BT that her mom reads all her scripts. “My dad prefers to watch my films on the screen. He has never asked me about the scripts I have picked or why I have agreed to do a certain project.”

Meanwhile, her dad, who is well into the second innings of his career, has been choosing roles that one would not expect him to portray in the OTT space. Ananya says, “With OTT platforms and some brave writing, dad has found his space, too. As an actor, I am thrilled to see him play such varied parts with ease. Dad has just come into his own now. He has always taken everything in his stride — the good and the bad. He’s not affected by success or failure. I hope to imbibe that quality. It definitely gives me the courage to make mistakes with a smile on my face and learn from them.”

Ananya’s mother was also a part of an OTT project, which has been renewed for another season, and her sister Rysa is preparing to become a filmmaker. With the entire family in show business, do they talk shop at home? “We don’t talk about work so much,” she says, adding, “If we do, we don’t set aside time for it. Dad has worked for way longer than I have lived. He has such a deep understanding and knowledge of the film trade. He has so many stories about how people worked in his time. I love listening to his stories and how he encapsulates the way the industry has changed from the time he was a hero in Bollywood to now, when he is a versatile artiste who can pull off anything if he is convinced. He realizes that the industry functions differently now, so he stands by me, but doesn’t give me any gyaan. Dad knows there was no one to help him in his time, and he wants me to figure out things for myself, too.”

As an actress, her launch vehicle was Student Of The Year 2, a glossy campus romance. Her subsequent films, however, have gradually distanced her from that space. Khaali Peeli, Pati Patni Aur Woh, and more recently, Gehraiyaan belong to various genres. The actress reveals to BT that since she started working at 19, she felt a certain sense of disconnect from her friends.

Ananya says, “All my friends were still studying while I was going to work. Back then, I felt disconnected from them. Today, I am back to being with them and I am regaining my balance now. I value the experience of working; nothing teaches you like work does. There’s no textbook in the world that can educate you like your workplace can. While shooting for different films, I made it a point to observe how every department works, how each of it contributes to the larger picture. I learned from each and every one of them. It’s important to be aware of every department and its role to evolve as an actor. I’ve seen how it all contributes to building up a character from paper to reel.”

She further adds, “In these three-four years, I have seen a fair share of success and failure, both personally and professionally. When you start working early, you tend to grow up sooner. I always did have this side to myself and I am just growing into my true self every single day.”

Deepika Padukone, in her very first interaction about Gehraiyaan, was all praises for Ananya Panday, her young co-star who plays her cousin Tia in the relationship drama. As the film inches closer to its release on Amazon Prime Video, the chatter around Ananya’s performance is gathering momentum. Talking to BT, Ananya opens up about how this film has deeply impacted her professionally and personally. Excerpts:

I am curious right now. We have attempted to do something different, and all of us are looking forward to finding out what the audience thinks of the film, the characters, the story and the way it all plays out. Whatever I say will not do justice to how much this film has changed me. I think we were among the lucky few to start filming in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic. It was hard. It was a fresh set of challenges that stood before us — there is heavy intimacy and warmth in the film, and everyone around us was in masks and PPE kits. From the time we started doing workshops and intimacy training sessions, we became like one family.

I learned so much from my co-stars, from Shakun Batra (director) and everyone involved in the making. With this movie, I have fallen in love with the process of acting, and I have discovered the tipping point or the beginning of my process as an actor going forward. I don’t ever want to say that I have completely cracked it, but this is how I want to do things. I am all of 23 right now. I shot this when I was about 21. I have seen myself growing up; it’s been captured in the film. It has made me non-judgemental as a person. It’s an observational film and not the kind that spoon-feeds the audience about what they should feel at some point. How the audience reacts to characters will also show how they perceive modern relationships.

Most people don’t know me as a person as such. But those who do know me know that I am a lot like Tia. So, I didn’t have to look at relationships around me to understand her psyche. Shakun had realised that even before I knew it. Playing the part was cathartic in the sense that it can be scary. It’s not like I was playing myself, but I had to borrow a lot of myself for the role. I can’t say that I have felt everything the way and with the magnitude that Tia feels in the film, but I have felt most of the things that she feels. Maybe I have felt them in smaller proportions and not in the manner in which she goes through them, and probably at a superficial level. So, while playing her, I had to dive in deeper and imagine myself in even more uncomfortable situations to aptly depict Tia’s fragility, vulnerability and insecurities. You build barriers around you, so people don’t see that side of you, and then you have to play it out on screen for millions of people to see. The thought is scary, but once you get past that, it can be one of the most liberating feelings. Although in the film, my character goes through something much higher than I have experienced, I’ve also had my heart broken, felt cheated and hurt and even my view is as innocent as her where I like to see the best in people.

Honestly, I have always wanted to be an actor. This is only my fourth film. From the time I started out, I had realised that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. There is a lot that I want to do, show, achieve and continuously grow with. With Gehraiyaan, I figured that this is the kind of cinema I want to do where you are lost in the process of acting and where one gets to play off of the performances of some fantastic actors. I hope Gehraiyaan creates a new path for me and people see a different side of me. I have seen the film, but the first time I see my work, I am extremely critical. Also, I have seen it in parts during the dubbing. Now, I want to see it in one flow. I want the audience to like my work. I am curious to see their and my own reaction to my performance.

I am actually excited. My mom reads all the scripts that come my way, but dad (Chunky Panday) doesn’t. Especially when I decide to do something, he doesn’t want to be told much about it. He wants to see it as a fresh piece. My parents are my biggest cheerleaders and also my critics. I am looking forward to what they think. I am also hoping that my sister Rysa likes this film. She is very hard to please, and wants to be a filmmaker herself. She loved the trailer.

It helped me stop being judgemental about things, especially when it’s about relationships and things I am not aware of. Relationships are always between two people and what happens is often between them. No one knows what makes them happy and what makes it all work. Personally, I feel, at this point, infidelity is a deal-breaker for me, but 10 years down the line, I don’t know if I will feel the same way. I haven’t lived and experienced enough on my own, but through the film, I learned that you need to place yourself in others’ shoes and be empathetic towards what’s happening, the place and the time when it’s happening and how things are playing out internally. It has changed my perspective on relationships completely.

Actor Ananya Panday is gearing up for her next, Gehraiyaan. While she is excited about it, she is also mentally prepared for the conversation that will ensue post the release of the film that talks about infidelity. “We aren’t endorsing or glorifying infidelity; we’re simply observing how four people would behave in a certain situation. But everyone will have a different opinion on it and I’m looking forward to the debates that will take place,” she says.

Though infidelity is a deal-breaker for her, Panday adds that working on the project helped her not judge people. Referring to it as a learning experience, she says, “I’ve always been attracted to complex characters that help me evolve, as an actor and person. I’m hoping this paves the way for more complex, flawed, powerful and strong female characters.”

So, what is her idea of a perfect relationship? The 23-year-old shares, “While growing up, I’d watch a lot of Shah Rukh Khan (actor) films. I wanted an ideal man, who would be madly in love with me. After a while, I realized that love is a lot about communication and friendship.”

Quiz her about her experience of working with actor Deepika Padukone in the film, and the Student Of The Year 2 (2019) actor says, “I have admired her as an actor my whole life. I love the choices she has made, the characters she has picked up and the way she has played them. She is as beautiful on the inside as the outside. She is warm and loving. She set the right tone and vibe on the set every day while we worked together.”

What was Ananya Panday’s first reaction to the narration of Gehraiyaan? As she recently admitted, she hid in the bathroom for 20 minutes, shocked that Shakun Batra wanted her for the noir relationship drama. The film was in stark contrast to the light-hearted movies she has done so far. Walking in, she knew that playing Tia — whose fiancé, played by Siddhant Chaturvedi, cheats on her with her cousin — was not going to be easy. “I am only 23. So, it’s not fair to say that I have been through something like this,” begins the actor.

“This is probably one of the most emotionally fleshed-out characters I have played. It was cathartic to play a role like this because I had to draw a lot from myself. I had to tap into my emotions, and [explore] them in depth. Once you go past the barrier where you wonder what people are thinking, and explore your most vulnerable side, only the best in you comes out.”

Starring Deepika Padukone, Chaturvedi, Panday and Dhairya Karwa, the Amazon Prime Video offering tells the story of two couples who may not be as happy as they seem on the outside. Director Batra trades love — an oft-explored emotion in Hindi films — to focus squarely on infidelity. As the actors embraced the flawed characters, Panday says there was no question of propagating infidelity.

“The choice we all made was to observe this relationship rather than judge it. Just because the film has the concept of infidelity, it doesn’t mean we are endorsing or glorifying it. We are merely observing four characters, their reactions and complexities. It was important for us not to judge the relationship. We are leaving it to the audience, and are keen to know their perspective on it.”

The film ticked two items off her wish list — working with Batra and co-star Padukone. Cherishing her time with the actor, Panday says, “I always looked up to her as an actor, but now I’ve started loving her for the person she is. She makes sure no one feels left out. She doesn’t make anyone feel overwhelmed, and is warm and loving.”

As someone who admittedly doesn’t take herself too seriously, Ananya Panday is gradually coming into her own. After debuting in a light campus romance, she has consciously chosen to feature in parts that don’t bear a resemblance with her previous work. “There have been a few challenges, but I definitely feel I’ve come out of 2021 much stronger,” she says as she looks forward to a busy 2022.

In a chat with Bombay Times, she spoke about the lessons 2021 taught her and what’s in store for the next 12 months. Excerpts. . .

2022 is already feeling special to me because of all the lessons and blessings I’m taking in from 2021. It has been a roller coaster year, but I’m feeling grateful and energised. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming up on the work front with Gehraiyaan and Liger. Also, I’ll begin shooting for Kho Gaye Hum Kahan.

On a personal level, in the last two years, I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned patience, gratitude and the power of self-love and about spending time with myself. I think we all learned that we don’t need much to be happy and the importance of enjoying the smaller things in life. I won’t lie; there have been a few challenges, but I definitely feel I’ve come out of 2021 much stronger and more mature. I’m ready to go and shoot, and work. There’s also a larger sense of empathy I’ve noticed not just in myself but in everyone around as well.

Professionally, it has been a really different time for the industry as a whole. But I think we’ve gained a lot with the OTT boom. We have witnessed so many wonderful stories and performances and I think it adds a sense of courage in filmmakers and actors to go ahead and make the films and tell the stories that they’ve been afraid to do so far. I think it’s the best time to be an artiste right now.

Both the films are so different which has probably been the most exciting part. Gehraiyaan is a complex relationship drama and playing my character in the film has almost been cathartic for me. The whole experience of that film has been magic, and I’ve met some of the best people on this film. It has been one of my favourite filming experiences. Liger is an out and out masala, action, comedy — basically like the kind of films that I’ve grown up watching, so it’s been a dream come true to be a part of it. I feel my character in Liger will be quite amusing and entertaining. Foraying into four new industries is scary, but also super exciting. I can’t wait to see how the audience reacts to both films and my characters in them. And language is such a small barrier and I think we’ve all seen that this year, after being exposed to so much regional and world cinema. So, it was actually something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time and I’m hoping it’s the beginning of a new journey. I think after you get over that initial feeling of being conscious when you’re doing over-the-top comedy, and just have fun instead of being scared of how it will end up looking, it all works out.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that acting is a lot of reacting. So, on the contrary it’s always a blessing to have stronger performances opposite you to feed off on. The whole team was working in synergy, and we were like a family where no one made me feel like I was new in any way. The experience and all the people associated with the film have really helped me grow as a person and as an actor. There was a lot I had to borrow from myself for the part, it was extremely cathartic in that sense, but I think I had to get over that fear of letting go and just being and exposing a vulnerable side of myself. And Shakun is a dream director for me. I’m a huge fan of his previous work and I was hoping and praying for a chance to work with him. I was drawn to how real, grey and complex the characters were. It was all in the writing for me — everything felt so honest and natural. I felt there was a lot I could borrow of myself for the part.

I think it’s inherently my personality to be happy-go-lucky and goofy, but at the same time I’m also growing up and coming into my own. I choose not to take myself too seriously and that kind of helps me stay balanced. In terms of choices of films and characters, I always lean towards doing something new and learning something with each experience. I want to always be a student and grow with each character and film. There’s lots of work to do, I’ve just begun and acting is something I imagine I will do for the rest of my life, so I’m hoping I continue to evolve.

I’ve learned a lot from my father. He’s someone who takes everything in his stride — the good and the bad. He’s not too affected by anything — success or failure. It is something that I hope to imbibe too, and it definitely gives me a lot more courage to come out and make mistakes with a smile on my face.