Saqib Saleem, who was in Ahmedabad recently along with his actress-sister Huma Qureshi to promote Baby Do Die Do, which he co-produced, says, “It is extremely difficult to release a female-led action thriller in theatres. It’s not because the audience doesn’t want to watch such films, but because of the gatekeeping within the industry. The people who decide what gets into theatres often don’t allow these films to be mounted and released properly. I feel Huma is a phenomenal actor. She has consistently proved herself with projects like Gangs Of Wasseypur, Delhi Crime and Maharani. So why should she still have to struggle to get a major theatrical film? Hasn’t she earned that by now?”

He adds, “I have produced two films before this, Double XL and Single Salma. Both were backed by studios and although the reviews and audience feedback were positive, neither film got a fair chance in theatres. They didn’t get enough screens or the right show timings. Even for our latest film, when a studio had certain unreasonable demands, I just decided to do this on our own and told Huma, ‘Let’s make this film, we’ll think about everything else later.’ I was blessed to have an incredible team. The vision behind our production house is to build an ecosystem where talented voices get the opportunities they deserve. We want to create a platform for people we truly believe in. I may not always make the biggest films, but I will give artistes the freedom to express themselves. I’ll create an environment where their voices are heard, because that’s often what’s suppressed in this industry.”

Talking about the responsibilities that come with producing films, he says, “As a producer, my responsibility is to make sure the film reaches the right theatres and gets the right number of shows. It’s not easy, but I believe audiences don’t think about whether a film comes from a studio or an independent producer. They simply want a good story and a unique film experience. I am glad that Main Vaapas Aaunga, which is very different from the kind of films that are considered commercially successful today, found its audience in the second week. It gives me hope and shows that people want to watch different, unique films and not just formula-driven cinema.”

He adds, “Producing a film is a completely different ball game from acting. Acting is a demanding profession, but as an actor, your focus is largely on your character, dialogues and performance. As a producer, however, everyone on the set looks to you for answers. You’ll meet plenty of people who will discourage you, but you need to believe in yourself, build a good team, work sincerely, and not let the outside noise affect you.”

Saqib, who has played cricket at the under-19 level, says the sport continues to influence the way he approaches filmmaking, “Even today, I’m a cricketer in my head. I still feel like I can play for India, and I don’t think that feeling will ever go away. I’ll always consider myself a sportsperson because cricket was my first love. Sports taught me that you start from zero every single day. For every new film, I have to start from zero. I can’t carry the baggage of my previous success.”

He adds, “That’s why I always relate filmmaking to cricket. Cricket is about building the right team and bringing people together to achieve one common goal. Producing is the same; my responsibility is to bring together the right people. I tell my directors, ‘I believe in your style. Make the film your way.’ Similarly, I choose actors who I believe are exceptionally talented. For instance, Sikandar Kher is a phenomenal actor. The same goes for Chunky Panday and Seema Pahwa. I like to cast actors who are immensely talented but haven’t always received the recognition they deserve. That includes Huma too; she’s a phenomenal actor. She has consistently proved herself with projects like Gangs of Wasseypur, Delhi Crime and Maharani. So why should she still have to struggle to get a major theatrical film? Hasn’t she earned that by now?”

From his unforgettable comic timing as Aakhri Pasta in Housefull to early hits like Tezaab, Apna Sapna Money Money and Aankhen, Chunky Panday has carved a niche in Hindi cinema with a career that has seen many turns. In Manali shooting for his upcoming film Rahu Ketu sometime back, Chunky, in an exclusive conversation with us, talked about his new project, a long-lost film that never released, his experience working on The Royals, and watching the women in his life, wife Bhavana and daughter Ananya steal the spotlight in their own ways.

Chunky spent considerable time shooting in Manali in the early monsoon for his new film Rahu Ketu. Telling us about his time spent there, the actor said that this was his second film shoot in Manali, the first one never being released.

“I came back to Manali after ages to shoot. I had done a film here 35 years ago, and I was so excited to come back here for this film. That film, based on a novel by Shashi Tharoor called Bollywood: Show Business, never released,” recalled the 62 year-old actor.

The actor also shared his experience of shooting Rahu Ketu in Manali. “Manali is beautiful, I’d love to come here in winters when it snows. The weather was perfect then in June-July. It was crowded at that time, but very beautiful. It is sad to see how badly it is affected due to floods. I hope and pray that people there are safe. They were so good to us when we were there.”

Lately, Chunky has been happily soaking in the success of the women in his life. Speaking of his wife Bhavana, who found fame after her stint in Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives, he shared, “I was with Bhavana in Paris after the show released. A group foreigners stopped and wanted a photo with her. They were so excited to see her and actually handed me the camera to take a picture of them with her. I was so happy seeing that fandom for her and thought to myself that ‘this is like the ultimate moment’.”

“First I was Chunky Panday, then I became Ananya’s dad and now I’m known as Bhavana’s husband. So I’m loving it. I think I’m enjoying Ananya’s success and whatever success Bhavana is getting now more than I’ve enjoyed my own success. When I was successful, I was too busy working to enjoy it. But this is something I really enjoy. I love being known as Ananya’s father or Bhavana’s husband, it makes me so proud of these women in my life, who have an identity of their own,” said the Don actor.

Speaking of a cherished moment that came from a tribute and not a trophy, the actor shared one of the most emotional moments during an awards function in Mumbai. “The whole theme was fan moments where actors paid tribute to someone they had always admired. Ananya came on stage, did a little number and said she wanted to pay tribute to someone who always made her laugh. I whispered to Bhavana that she’s probably going to call out SRK’s name. But she started the segment with a Neelam song, and I thought maybe it’s for Neelam. But then, she broke into my songs one after the other. I was just stunned with the realization that my daughter was paying a tribute to me,” said the actor.

Seen in the web show The Royals, Chunky again portrayed a flirtatious comic character, one which he has often portrayed on screen. When asked if he views being typecast as limiting he said, “On the contrary, I love to be stereotyped! I’m flattered, in fact. Yes, there definitely is a comfort in playing roles that one can master well. However, I felt so nice doing The Royals. I felt like a star doing it..”

He went on to add, “When I did the character Aakhri Pasta in Housefull, everyone just wanted me to do similar roles. Similarly, when I had done a Nepali character, many people wanted to cast me as a Nepali in their film. It’s very flattering when that one thing clicks. But, I always try to break the image and give a little different taste to the audience. And that’s why in Rahu Ketu, I’m playing a villain.”

Ask if he would change anything about his career trajectory if given a chance, the Tezaab actor shared, “If I went and changed the course of my career, maybe the chances were I would not meet Bhavana, and the chances are that Ananya and Rysa wouldn’t be born. So, I would not want to change anything in my life,” he said.

“I was a very last-moment addition to The Royals. They called me up and asked me two things: ‘are these dates available? And do you know horse-riding?’ And I lied about both,” he chuckled. “I was a horse rider in my first film. But it had been almost 40 years since I got onto a horse. And here I had to play polo with Ishaan Khatter, who had been practicing it for two months. I was surprised that the role fell into my lap. I hope they consider me for a second season as well. My character is a very integral part of the story,” he added.

Chunky Panday has had two releases in the last two months with The Royals and Detective Sherdil. In the former, he got to explore a romantic track with actor Sakshi Tanwar. The actor admits that while love stories of the senior generation are rarely made on screen, he feels glad to be a part of one.

Talking about developing chemistry with Sakshi, he says, “I was a little awkward doing romantic scenes, not that there were any love making or hot scenes. I am a fan of Sakshi and her work, and when I got this chance, I jumped at it. But there was a bit of awkwardness because romance is not my cup of tea.”

The 62-year-old adds, “I struggled a bit, but the director, DOP and even the producer were women, so there was a lot of female energy on set and they kind of got that romance out of me. But I admit I’m not good at it.”

The actor reveals that while the audience found his romance sweet, his wife, reality TV star Bhavana Pandey had an unexpected reaction: “People told me I looked sweet, but my wife was laughing when she saw me. She couldn’t imagine me being romantic. She is always critical of my work.”

Chunky got a chance to perform live on stage with daughter (actor) Ananya Panday at a recent award show as she paid a tribute to him. And it was a surprise for him. “She started talking about someone who made her laugh since she was a child. So, I thought she was talking maybe (actor) Shah Rukh Khan. Then she burst into a (actor) Neelam song from one of my films, so I thought maybe she’s doing a tribute to Neelam. Then suddenly it turned into all my songs, and I got so excited. For me that was like a lifetime achievement award,” Chunky ends.

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)”

Neelam came back in the limelight after she appeared in the Bollywood Wives series. The actress who was quite popular in the late 80s and 90s took a break from movies in 2000s. While she’s had quite a few well-known films to her credit, during her course as an actor she regrets letting go of a few of them. One such movie being the Naseeruddin Shah, Sunny Deol starrer Tridev.

As she looks back at the “lost opportunity”, Neelam shares, “I was supposed to do a role in Tridev. The film is known for that Tirchi Topiwale. So, that’s my biggest regret! I regret not doing the film missing out being a part of that song.”

Neelam who was seen in films like Agneepath and Hum Saath Saath Hain feels that it is important to have good numbers associated with your name as an actor. She elaborates saying, “Hit songs always get carried forward from one era to another. Remember my song Aap Ke Aa Jane Se from Khudgarz it’s still so known. So, I feel Tirchi Topiwale could have been another song in my kitty. I mean just look at Saat Samundar Paar. People are still dancing on that number. Like, people from different generations, literally! I mean Chunky Panday (who featured in the song) is still doing shows on that song (laughs).”

Neelam who’s eager to take up interesting work was also seen in web shows like Masaba Masaba and Made In Heaven. In an earlier chat with us she had opened up about the reason behind quitting films. 

She had said, “Back then, I left the industry because I believed my shelf life was over, and I didn’t like the films I was being offered. When I left films, I was almost 30. That was the last time people saw me on screen, and making a comeback in my 50s was a little daunting. But Karan (Johar, maker of Bollywood Wives series) and my husband Samir helped me calm down and pushed me to go for it, and here I am.”

Actor Ananya Panday says that when she used to stay with her parents, actor Chunky Panday and wife Bhavna Pandey, it would amplify her feeling of sadness.

In a recent conversation with her father Chunky on the YouTube channel We Are Yuvaa, the father-daughter duo discussed how her life changed since the actor moved into a separate house in November last year.

Talking candidly with her father, Ananya said, “When I used to stay with y’all, I feel like when I used to get sad, you used to feed into my sadness.” She further explained that her parents’ questions would make it worse.

Questions like “What happened? Are you fine?” added to Ananya’s thoughts. She added, “I was acting also a little bit while crying at home”

She said that living alone helped her gain control over her emotions in a better way and now she can deal with her thoughts at her own pace.

On the work front, she has started shooting for the second season of Call Me Bae and will also be seen in Chand Mera Dil.

For Vijay 69, Anupam Kher took on the challenge of learning swimming at 69. The idea of challenging himself extends to his next venture too. The veteran actor, who had turned director with Om Jai Jagadish in 2002, is giving filmmaking a second shot with Tanvi The Great. The musical stars him alongside Game of Thrones actor Iain Glen, with music composed by Oscar winner M M Keeravani. 

Relishing this chapter of his career, Kher states, “Like Vijay 69, even for my directorial venture, I took up a difficult subject. No one can tell us what we can or cannot do. We can be ordinary, but the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that extra effort. You have to bring that element in your life and career.”

Kher has completed four decades in the industry. It was a realization early on in his journey that turned things around for him. “It’s important to be lonely and frustrated [for an artiste],” he says, recounting how he decided to not surround himself with other struggling actors.

“When I came to Mumbai, people told me that I should go to Pamposh restaurant in Bandra and hang outside Prithvi Theatre. So, I went to Pamposh and saw a few old people. They were sipping tea and saying, ‘Gyarah saal se struggle kar raha hoon.’ I realized that seven years later, I might [be one of them]. That’s why I never sat with them.”

Over the decades that followed, Kher built not only an eclectic filmography, but also meaningful friendships in the industry—from Anil Kapoor to Chunky Panday.

“Now, [such friendships] are not possible. I’m not saying today people aren’t capable of forming relationships, but at that time, we didn’t have any vanity vans. We didn’t have so many people surrounding us. What we had were conversations,” he says.

The first time Chunky Panday shared screen space with Anupam Kher was in Tezaab (1988). He won his maiden acting nomination, but eventually lost the trophy to Kher. For their upcoming collaboration, Vijay 69, Kher has assured Panday that the latter will win an award. “That time, Kher saab had won for Vijay [1988], and this time, he believes I will win for Vijay 69,” smiles Panday.

The actor, who plays a Parsi character in the Netflix dramedy, credits Kher for guiding his performance. “When I play a character, I make it over the top and a caricature. He told me to control my performance as it’s not that kind of film.”

In the last few years, Panday has extensively worked in digital entertainment and he confesses that the varied stories on OTT have made him look at himself as a performer in a new light.

“When I entered the industry, I wanted to be a star; acting happened later. The hero, in our time, always had to be the good guy. Kher saab and others got to [play different characters]—good, bad and ugly. Now, I am enjoying playing all these characters.”

Going by his instinct, the senior actor also wanted his daughter Ananya Panday to focus on achieving stardom. But today as she receives acclaim for her performances, be it in CTRL or Call Me Bae, daddy dearest is happy to be proven wrong.

He says, “I used to have fights with her because I felt she should do [mainstream] cinema and she’d say, ‘Dad, I want to be an actor.’ I’d respond saying, ‘You be an actor later, first you become a star.’ Now, I’m realizing that perhaps she was right.”

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.

A photo of Chunky Panday taking a driving test went viral recently. The actor got behind the wheel to get his license renewed, 20 years after it expired. “I again took a test after 43 years,” laughs the actor, adding, “I recently wrapped up the shoot for Son Of Sardaar 2 and had to leave for an international trip. I will start shooting for Housefull 5 and I wanted a license to drive abroad. I found my [expired] license at home, lying around like a memento. So, I requested the RTO office that I needed an international driving permit. That’s when they mentioned that my license expired 20 years ago. I’m glad I didn’t drive all this while.”

Panday passed the test and got a learner’s license: “The test was so cool. The authorities gave me a lot of love and respect. But you do get nervous before taking any test.”

Since he mentions Housefull 5, ask him about reuniting with the OG cast, and the actor says, “The shoot will be over by the end of this year and the film will release in 2025. When we shot in Bahrain and Italy for Housefull (2010), we never thought we would reach the fifth part of the franchise.”

Don’t we all love stories about the movies? From Om Shanti Om (2007) to Luck By Chance (2009), from Jubilee (2023) to this year’s Showtime, each project gave us a look into the film world from different vantage points.

Now, The Viral Fever (TVF) team is offering a tongue-in-cheek take with Industry, which examines showbiz from the lens of a struggling screenwriter, played by Gagan Arora. Chunky Panday portrays a producer who promises to get the writer’s film off the ground.

Panday says the subject’s light-handed treatment drew him to director Navjot Gulati’s series for Amazon mini TV. “It is a comedy-drama with an in-depth take on the business, without being preachy or bitchy. When people show Bollywood, they usually depict its glamorous side. But this series is about the film industry that exists in Aram Nagar and Lokhandwala, and showcases the lives of the young people [trying to break into the industry]. It’s not dark; the reality is handled in a humorous manner,” he shares.

The senior actor has a knack for bringing humour into his parts. It wasn’t any different for his role of Raman Kumar, whom Panday describes as a “jugaadu producer”. As it turns out, he had a few ready references for the part.

“I play a jugaadu producer who multi-tasks. I modelled it on a few producers whom I worked with in the ’80s and ’90s, and who are active now. So, Raman Kumar is a cocktail of five crazy characters!”

A series about Bollywood cannot be complete without the presence of the industry folk. “Many real-life struggling young actors, writers, and directors, have acted in the show. Many celebrities have done cameos too, including Hansal Mehta, Guneet Monga, Kunal Kapoor, and Kartiki Gonsalves [The Elephant Whisperers director],” says Panday.

Though he has been in the business for over three decades, the actor says Industry—written by Gulati, Gullak creator Shreyansh Pandey, Girish Jotwani, Shreemi Verma and Abhishek Dixit—acquainted him with a new side of the film world. “In my 38 years as an actor, I have met so many people who have written scripts and want to make them into movies. I only knew about the Bandra side of the film industry, this world in Andheri was a revelation to me.”

The house is certainly getting fuller with actors being constantly roped in for Housefull 5. Last week, Abhishek Bachchan became the latest addition to the ensemble comedy, starring Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Riteish Deshmukh, and Chunky Panday. With most of the primary cast finalized, we’ve heard that director Tarun Mansukhani will take the comic caper into pre-production this month. He is set to kick off the UK recce in 10 days.

While the film will primarily be shot in London, Mansukhani apparently wants to bring other untapped locations to the big screen.

“The reason why the makers have charted out a long recce is because Akshay has shot two projects, Bellbottom [2021] and Khel Khel Mein, in the UK recently. Visually, they want to avoid any similar locations,” says a source.

After spending May-end and June in pre-production, the director will call action on the latest instalment of the popular franchise in late August.

The source adds, “He has designated 60 to 65 days for the shoot. The cast will prep thoroughly before flying out to London. Since it is a large cast, the prep will help in efficiency, and reduce wastage of time. Tarun wants to wrap up the principal photography by October before Diwali. Only patch shoots will remain after that.”

Housefull 5 is slated for a June 2025 release.

Actor Chunky Panday has now opened up about his daughter, actor Ananya Panday’s relationship with actor Aditya Roy Kapur. In an interview with Lehren Retro, the Sardar (2022) actor said that he doesn’t mind if Ananya talks openly about her beau.

When asked about his daughter’s openness about her relationship with Kapur, Panday said, “I mean it’s fine. I think she is 25, she is earning more money than I did. She is free to do what she wants. How dare I tell my 25-year-old daughter what to do.”

Ananya and Kapur made headlines last year when pictures of them vacationing together in Spain went viral. The couple have also been spotted at several events together in the past few months.

Talking about Ananya’s film career, Panday also spoke about how they have conflicting views about films. “I am from the old school. Mujhe commercial cinema bahut pasand hai. Mere sabse jyada jhagde jo Ananya ke saath hote hai are where I tell her, ’You need to do commercial cinema.’ She tells me, ‘Papa mein karungi, lekin first let me establish myself as an actor.’ We never thought of all that at our age.”

Actor, author, producer— Huma Qureshi likes juggling multiple roles. While the actor is happy at the positive response to the third season of Maharani, the producer in her has her hands full with Baby Do Die Do. Nachiket Samant’s directorial venture marks Qureshi and actor-brother Saqib Saleem’s second production after Double XL (2022). From what we hear, the film —starring her, Chunky Panday and Sikandar Kher — was wrapped up last month following a start-to-finish schedule in Mumbai.

So, what’s Baby Do Die Do all about? Sources tell us it’s a neo-noir crime comedy set in the underbelly of Mumbai. A source from the creative team reveals, “The film went on floors in December 2023 and principal photography was completed in February. Besides the principal characters, the cast includes Marathi theatre actors as Nachiket is a well-known Marathi director. Baby Do Die Do is a whodunnit set in the underbelly of the metropolis, where each character is grey and has ulterior motives. It’s quirky and smart, along the lines of Huma’s much-loved Monica O My Darling [2022].”

Through her production house, Qureshi wants to bring unheard stories to the fore—ranging from a meaningful film like Double XL that questioned body shaming, to a quirky movie like Baby Do Die Do.

“Huma and Saqib were excited when they heard the script, and immediately decided to back it. They loved how it’s a humorous take on everyday characters who find themselves dabbling in crime. The new producers have a content-first approach and this film aligned with their vision. Nachiket, who previously helmed Gachchi [2017] and Comedy Couple [2020], wanted to give it a realistic treatment. So, the movie was shot at real locations across the city, including in south and central Mumbai. Many scenes have been filmed on local trains with real commuters,” adds the source.

We hear the producer duo plan to take the film to the big screen before the year-end.

Last November, it was heard that Rakul Preet Singh and Neena Gupta were set to collaborate on a comedy, although details of the project were scarce at the time. Now, mid-day has found out that the film, tentatively titled Ameeri, is a sharp look at the rich-poor divide in society. The slice-of-life comedy sees Singh and Gupta play domestic help while Chunky Panday and Simone Singh portray an uber rich couple.

Ashish R Shukla, who previously directed the popular thriller series Undekhi (2020) and Richa Chadha-led Candy (2021), has helmed the Sunir Kheterpal production. We hear the project went on floors in Alibaug last November and was wrapped up in February.

A source reveals, “It’s a wild, fun movie that examines the glaring difference in the lifestyles of the rich and the poor. Simone and Chunky play a snooty, powerful married couple from the upper crust of society in a metropolis, while Rakul and Neena play their disgruntled, underpaid domestic help. After being continuously mistreated by their employers, the two decide to take matters into their own hands and change their situation. Hilarity ensues as the two classes clash against each other. Through its tongue-in-cheek humour and laughs, the movie notes how amid the constantly widening social divide, the elite turn a blind eye to the needs of the underprivileged.”

The film is said to be an adaptation of a 2009 Panamanian satire that struck a chord with Kheterpal, who felt that the theme would resonate with the Indian audience. The source adds, “Ameeri has everyday incidents that Indian viewers across different strata will relate to. While Neena ji and Chunky have always been known for their comic timing, Rakul and Simone have matched them spark for spark.”

Currently, the cast—also including Anant V Joshi, who was seen in Kathal and 12th Fail (2023) —are dubbing their portions, after which the team will release a teaser sometime in May. We hear the makers are planning a theatrical release in the second half of 2024.

Although Ananya Panday has tasted success with Dream Girl 2, her desire to perform comedy on screen is yet to be fulfilled. Admitting that comedy is a difficult genre to crack and that she could only react to it in the Ayushmann Khuarrana-starrer, she says, “I was part of a situational comedy in Dream Girl 2. I was reacting to everything around me, so I cannot take credit for that. However, in Call Me Bae, I will be doing more comedy.”

The Amazon Prime Video series, announced earlier this year, marks Ananya’s debut in digital entertainment. The Dharmatic production revolves around a wealthy fashionista who is eschewed by her family owing to a controversy. For the first time in her life, she is left to fend for herself while navigating stereotypes and prejudice.

It’s a trade practice for people in the genre to be able to laugh at themselves before laughing at someone else. Ananya put this practice to use on the set of Call Me Bae.

“Sometimes we overthink things like, ‘If we make this face, we will look silly. If we try to improvise, it will not come out correct.’ I believe comedy is about being uninhibited with being silly and willing to make a fool of yourself,” says Ananya, adding that it was also an advice she received from dad Chunky Panday.

Daddy dearest also taught Ananya to take criticism in her stride, a feat that is difficult to cultivate for many actors as they are perpetually under public scrutiny.

“I think it comes naturally to me and has become a part of my personality. Dad and I are quite similar. We like that people around us like us and laugh with us. And sometimes [even] at our expense. I think I have developed that thick skin seeing my dad,” shares the actor, adding that there are days when jibes hurt her. “Sometimes, I don’t take a joke as well as I would have on any other day because I am only human. But being in the industry makes you grow stronger.”