Actor Deepika Padukone sparked debate last year over eight-hour work shifts after reportedly exiting films like Spirit and the sequel to Kalki 2898 AD (2024). Now, actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Ananya Panday have defended her stance, saying such conversations with producers are necessary.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, Kareena said clear communication and planning are key, especially for working mothers. Recalling her time shooting The Buckingham Murders (2024), she shared that she informed producers in advance about returning to her children while her husband, Saif Ali Khan, looked after them. She further spoke about Deepika’s eight-hour shift demand and added that if actors are married, they need a partner who understands, as they cannot both work and leave the children alone.

“I feel like if you are married and have children… You should be able to say this is what I want. I can work this number of hours. I think it’s completely fine to say that way before a film starts,” Kareena said.

Ananya, on the other hand, said, “I have worked with Deepika (in the 2022 film Gehraiyaan), and before she became a mother, there was no such thing like that. She was working, coming to workshops, no complaints and no asking for anything. Now she’s a mother… she needs to be present with her child in the first two years. I think it’s okay to have a conversation with your producer to find a balance.”

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)”

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.

Yudhra might be Siddhant Chaturvedi’s sixth film in his eight-year career, but it was the first one he signed after his big-screen debut with Gully Boy (2019). Producers Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani had zeroed in on him for Ravi Udyawar’s directorial venture, but with the development taking long, the actor made a request to the makers.

“They were still working on the script. Meanwhile, I was offered Bunty Aur Babli 2 [2021] and Gehraiyaan [2022]. So, I told Ritesh sir, ‘You need some time to prep. For an action film, the actor needs equity. Since the responsibility on me is huge, let me go out and get some equity,’” he recalls.

By the time the actor was ready to face the camera for Yudhra, which also stars Malavika Mohanan, the pandemic delayed the project. It, however, didn’t stop Chaturvedi’s prep.

“I knew the weight of responsibility on me. I was also scared. Because of the pandemic, the industry’s commerce went upside down. In such a scenario, any other producer would’ve backed out because it’s all about the returns. But Farhan sir, Ritesh sir and Ravi sir had immense faith in me and the script.”

For this, he remains grateful to the makers. Akhtar and Sidhwani showed gumption as they backed a relatively new actor like him, just as they had in Inside Edge, Gully Boy and Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023).

“When the market is so volatile, they could think, ‘We are making this film with this new boy. What if it doesn’t open [well] at the box office?’ It takes guts [to bet on new talent]. That’s why Farhan sir and Ritesh sir are game changers.”

While he made his debut with a supporting role in Gully Boy, Chaturvedi has quickly graduated to lead roles. In the pipeline, he has Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s yet-untitled production, and a Karan Johar film co-starring Triptii Dimri.

“My dreams were always big, to be a Hindi film hero. At the same time, I am attached to my craft and won’t do things for the heck of it. There were films that I could have done, but I always need gravitas in the story.”

In that pursuit, the actor has turned down some movies, including Brahmāstra: Part One—Shiva (2022). His criteria while choosing projects are simple. He explains, “There should be substance. I need to control my craft, the rest is not in my control.”

Most directors will tell you how the filming of an intimate scene is among the most delicate parts of a shoot, as it requires comfort and trust between actor and director.

Over the past few years, Bollywood has been increasingly roping in intimacy coordinators based on the needs of a project. The Shahid Kapoor-Kriti Sanon starrer Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, which released recently, had multiple intimate scenes, one of which was trimmed by the CBFC.

Director Amit Joshi, who shared credits with Aradhana Sah, told us: “It’s important for actors and directors to build trust before the filming begins. Scenes are discussed in detail in advance so that actors can state their reservations, if any. We ensured our actors were comfortable. Today, even actors understand the creative process.”

We spoke to intimacy coordinators, directors, and actors to understand the challenges that intimate scenes pose and how those are overcome during the shoot.

The actors sign a contract document called the nudity rider which details the intimate scenes and the fact that the actor has agreed to shoot them

- Knowing the script: Understanding what kind of intimacy scenes — kissing scenes, disrobing, simulated sex — the script needs. Workshops are conducted to make the actors feel comfortable with each other

- Discussions with the director: The coordinators discuss with the director what they are looking to portray

- Detailing and checklist: The scene is finalized after thrashing out the minute details, such as where the actor will place his hands while shooting a kissing scene.

(Inputs by Akshay Muraka, intimacy choreographer)

“I was working as Shakun Batra’s assistant prepping for Gehraiyaan when I joined (Hollywood intimacy coordinator) Amanda Blumenthal’s training programme. This helped when we were shooting the intimate scenes in the film. In web series such as Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo, and Four More Shots Please! (S3), collaborating closely with directors has given me the freedom to push artistic boundaries. At times, the actors have already figured out what works for them. So, just a conversation is enough to make them understand how the scene will work.”

“During my first few films like Khamosh Pani and BA Pass, we would improvise intimate scenes on set. As an actor, my concern with intimate scenes is to create the right emotions. I have always been at ease with these scenes. I played a lesbian character in Four More Shots Please! (S3). Rehearsals for intimate scenes play an important role.”

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The roles of a chat show host and producer come easy to Neha Dhupia, but she asserts that she will always be an actor first. Naturally then, she is delighted to showcase her acting on an international stage with Blue 52. Egyptian director Ali El Arabi’s film revolves around a 22-year-old boy Ashish, who, raised in Kerala by a controlling father and a loving mother, escapes to Qatar with the hope of meeting his idol Lionel Messi at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“After all these years, I managed to get an international film. Maybe the time is right for me now,” smiles Dhupia, excited about her international debut. Adil Hussain and she play the protagonist’s parents in the drama that was shot in Kochi and Qatar.

“I felt so liberated every day on that set. My look was different; it was exactly how I wanted to be cast for a long time. It didn’t happen in India for me. I’m hoping more filmmakers see the movie and think of me in different roles. Adil is such a wonderful actor and a great teacher. You feel cocooned in his company.”

Blue 52 gave her not only a rich experience, but also an age-appropriate, meaty role. The actor reflects that in India, female artistes in their 40s are hardly seen in diverse parts. “I’ll be honest. It’s very hard to cast women in their 40s. We don’t want to play mums to old kids, and we aren’t getting cast as young women. I’m offered acting jobs, but the ones I want to do are few and far between.”

Dhupia juggles her acting commitments with her production, No Filter Neha. She has taken the chat series’ latest season from a podcast to a video show. What does she say to the same celebrity guests over and over again after six seasons?

“You never run out of conversations. For instance, Vicky [Kaushal] wasn’t married when he came the first time, and now, he has a wife. This time around, one of the most pleasant things I heard was from Ananya Panday. She spoke about learning from Deepika Padukone on Gehraiyaan [2022]. She learnt how sometimes if your hair or dialogue delivery is not right, [one must] ask for a second take. I had never asked for what’s mine on set. But Ananya [noted that] as long as no one is being inconvenienced, it’s okay to ask. It’s a part of giving your 100 per cent.”

Kausar Munir, lyricist who has written songs like Doobe Doobe for Gehraiyaan and Main Pareshaan for Ishaqzaade says, "When one thinks of songs portraying female desires in films, the first song that comes to mind is 'Na jao saiyaan' from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam which had pathos, longing, and oppression, capturing the beauty of the scene. But that song was more about a woman who is wronged and oppressed. Many of Gulzar Saheb's songs, such as 'Aaj kal paon zameen par nahi parte mere,' when looked at from a woman's perspective, are songs about female desire. In fact, 'mera kuch samaan' is tinged with longing, desire, and loss. Gulzar saheb comes out as a champion of (writing) female desires in songs. Even a song like Kajra Re, which is kind of a club song with the line 'aankhein bhi kamaal karti hain, personal se sawaal karti hain', is the ultimate flirtatious line, layered with context where she is asking -'what's next? where do you want to take it now?' Many of Kaifi Azmi's songs have also expressed female desire. One of the best songs on female desires is Jaan Nisar Akhtar's 'Ae-dil-e-nadaan,' with the second line 'Aarzoo Kya Hai, Zustajoo Kya Hai,' beautifully depicts desire."

She adds, "When people, and by people I mean mostly men, think of an item song, it's often very different from what female desire actually encompasses—it's much more varied."

Talking about her songs, she says,"'Gehraiyaan' is particularly fascinating; it goes into forbidden desires. But it is for both men and women. I was asked to capture the film's essence in the song. I coined the word 'besafar' for the song, which many people thought was an actual word. Similarly, I created the word 'Ishaqzaade,' which, in fact, is not a real word. Reflecting on it now, 'Main Pareshaan Pareshan Pareshan' from Ishaqzaade is also about female desire. What else would she be pareshaan about?"

After a long period of not being on screen, Siddhant Chaturvedi got a much-needed hit in the form of Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan last year. A direct-to-OTT release, it fetched him good reviews, something the actor had been craving for since Gully Boy in 2019. In the actor’s next, “both the male and female protagonists have become so relevant in the last three months”. However, he is waiting for the official announcement to take place.

With things finally looking up for him, ask if his industry peers supported him when his movies failed to connect with the audience and the 30-year-old says, “I don’t keep personal expectations from the industry, only professional ones. Everybody has been very nice. When I went to parties, they spoke to me and said, ‘It happens to everybody’.”

Chaturvedi adds, “I spoke to Ayushmann (Khurrana, actor) and he said that the one good thing is this phase happened at such an early age, now I will know how to handle things [at a later stage]. He told me, ‘Right now, phoonk phoonk ke kadam rakho’.”

“Surprised” by actors Vicky Kaushal and Ranbir Kapoor’s support to sail through tumulous waters, the actor shares, “Ranbir doesn’t go to parties. But, he spoke to me at length when he called me over to [his house] to chill, I told him, ‘I don’t know bhai, kuchh chal nahi raha’. He said, ‘Keep working, Don’t get agitated about other people doing 100 other things or being seen’. That is his way of doing things. Ranbir and Alia (Bhatt, actor) are the only two people who messaged me after Gehraiyaan (2022).”

Kapoor told Chaturvedi that he thought his film, “Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009) would be his Munna Bhai MBBS (2003)”. However, the film did not make it big at the box office. So, Kapoor shared one piece of advice with the Phone Bhoot (2022) actor: “He said, ‘Jab tu expect nahi kar raha hoga, tab chalegi film’. I was not expecting much from Kho Gaye... I said, ‘Okay, we have made it for a target group, those people will give it love’. I didn’t know so many people would like that film,” he ends.

It’s been some time since Siddhant Chaturvedi won appreciation for his performance until his 2023 film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (KGHK). After the Gully Boy (2019) fame, the actor saw a bit of a lull in his career. Then, he went MIA for a year with no media interactions and rare public appearances. In a free-wheeling chat over a video call from his holiday, the actor bares his heart, but refrains from sharing one thing — his holiday destination. Excerpts:

It was long due after Gully Boy. I needed some motivation again... it’s been a while since it released, followed by Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021), Gehraiyaan and Phone Bhoot (both 2022). The pandemic happened, I thought we were kind of losing touch with what was working. I had been working for three-four years, things were not happening. And especially after Gully Boy, everybody had high expectations saying I am the ‘next big thing’... I felt I let people down. I would also not blame my choices. Consumer behaviour changed. Big-scale films became front-runners, no one was ready to invest so much money on a newcomer. What I had shot for was just right before the pandemic, the films released after that. I was disappointed with myself, (and thought) where was it going? I finally needed a push like KGHK.

I thought mere paas kuch hai nahi baat karne ke liye, aur mera kaam bolta hai. Jab kaam nahi bol raha with the audience, who has moved on to some new kind of cinema... and then there are YouTube influencers, creators. As a newcomer, you are put between 360 degrees of entertainment, where you have to compete with so much. I felt that putting stuff out on social media and being spotted is not who I am. I felt I need to work harder to choose the right things.

I feel overwhelmed with the love right now, but if people are scattered away, I am not going to stand and shout ‘I am spotted, I am going to the gym, I bought a new car’ — that’s not the kind of actor I am. There are so many of them already; everybody has a great life on Instagram. If everyone is an influencer, then who is influenced? I understood my vision is to be there on the screen — be it digital or theatrical. Obviously, the dream is to be at the box office, but whatever it is, cinema is my way of communicating with people. What would I have talked about? I can’t put pictures of my vacations or go to award shows who are just giving me one. Initially after Gully Boy, I loved the attention (on social media) as there was chatter, I was excited. Later, I realized I needed something substantial.

I have nothing against people who do that. Out of sight was on purpose. If I was out of mind and then came with an unexpected performance, it would blow your mind. I have faith in myself. I was nowhere before Gully Boy... suddenly people saw me on the map, I wanted that same effect.

I saw them on Reddit. I go and read the gossip and blind articles. It is really disturbing.

Yes. Pehle achha lagta tha padh ke, before I had made it, maza aata tha. Par jab khud ke baare mein hota hai toh aankhein khulti hain. They call me arrogant, cocky, overrated. I was underrated before Gehraiyaan (2022), overrated after it, and then they said ‘he has disappeared, bada aaya tha’. That really hurt. I take it in a good way, but after reading (such comments), I am not able to sleep at night. I sit at the same window where I sat and dreamt, and decide, I will show the world. Earlier, I almost wrote a reply defending myself from fake profiles, but just before sending it, I would be like ‘no yaar, let the perception be, it’s good to break it with work’. I don’t expect people to be soft on me because I have got the hard way in life. It is not easy to make it and even harder to sustain it.

The last time we saw Dhairya Karwa was as a Mumbai-based writer in Gehraiyaan (2022). His next, Apurva, largely set in Chambal, is a story that could scare the life out of any city dweller. Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s survival drama follows Tara Sutaria’s titular character as she fights her male assailants after being abducted from a bus. Karwa plays her fiancé who sets out in search of her.

“The only way to survive such [intense] films is to take it a little less seriously. But the subject cannot be [taken lightly]. A film like this reflects generational conditioning,” says the actor.

Karwa is unfazed that the Disney+ Hotstar movie is centred on Sutaria and Abhishek Banerjee’s characters. To him, it was the messaging that mattered. “I knew it’s a great story. When you are starting out, it’s more important to establish the kind of stories that matter to you.”

In the past five years, the actor has featured in Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and 83 (2021). After Gehraiyaan, he says he has noticed a shift in opinions about him.

“I got some roles that needed me to shoulder more. I signed two big projects, but they didn’t work out the way [I] had hoped. There was a long gap since my last release because of this. I had to recalibrate [my choices] and that’s when Apurva came my way.”

He will also be seen in Gyaarah Gyaarah soon.

Tamannaah Bhatia-starrer series Jee Karda chronicles the lives of seven friends who grew up together, and continue to navigate life, and friendship into their 30s.

“Their friendship commences from their schooling days. An incident occurs, and that binds them together. They grow up, but they keep coming back to each other. The show is named Jee Karda because it showcases how they impulsively try to [find] joy in their lives,” says Samvedna Suwalka, who features as one of the seven friends in the Maddock show.

As a young girl married into a family where space continues to remain a constraint, Suwalka’s character, Sheetal, is often seen struggling to express her love for her husband.

“We have intimate scenes, which often see our characters rushing through the process of sex because they fear someone might walk into them [during the act]. We worked with intimacy coach Aastha [Khanna], who also worked with Deepika [Padukone] in Gehraiyaan.”

Chronicling what the process of intimacy coaching entails, Suwalka shares, “It begins with simply talking about your body parts — the ones you are both comfortable and uncomfortable with. It also involves non-verbal communication. It is so difficult to simply sit and look into someone’s eyes without saying a word to each other. The idea of expressing without speaking is not easy. In another, we were made to stand at a certain distance, while each one of us approached the other. We were asked to share when our proximity made any one of us uncomfortable. Often, one may not be able to decipher how these workshops are essential in the making of a 30-second long sex scene, until it actually plays out.”

Asserting that intimate scenes are also completely choreographed, Suwalka highlights that both actors are required to ask the other for consent before the camera rolls.

“Both the woman and the man may feel vulnerable. Each one needs to discuss how he/she intends to touch the other during the shot. In our case, these trust exercises were particularly important because the director wanted it to appear like we were a married couple who were not having sex for the first time. We were also asked about the clothes that we were comfortable wearing.”

Ask her how matters would proceed if she was uncomfortable with the final product, and she gives credit to director Arunima Sharma for allowing hers to be the last call.

“Due to certain situations, we had to be rather quick while shooting the scene. When we saw some rushes, there was one aspect that I wasn’t comfortable with, and I freaked out. I spoke to her, and she asked me for time to let her work with the rushes, and assured me that if I was unhappy with the edit, we’d discuss it. So, I was made to feel like the power was in my hands. There was a part I wasn’t happy with, and she also agreed that it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. So, we got rid of it.”

UP CLOSE: A behind-the-scenes shot from ‘Four More Shots Please!’, on which Aastha Khanna (below) worked as an intimacy coordinator

Jaya Lakshmi Sundaresan remembers being on a movie set in Hyderabad with a very prominent producer and his gaggle of friends staring intently at the monitor. What had them so very transfixed was a steamy scene. “Though I was the costume designer, directors would sometimes ask me to be present for sex scenes to make sure the heroine is comfortable. That day, I said no unnecessary people should be on set, but was I able to stop them from making illicit comments and giggling? No, and I still feel so let down about it,” says the 39-year-old.

But Sundaresan can now put her foot down and her new-found confidence comes from the fact that she is now a trained intimacy coordinator (IC). Shakun Batra’s ‘Gehraiyaan’ made headlines for being the first Indian movie to hire intimacy coordinators but now it’s a growing field. While jokes about them being the “sex police” abound, Indian ICs say their role is not as sexy as it sounds. It is crucial to ensure that any intimacy being filmed is consensual, safe, in line with the artistic vision of the director, while still involving best practices. Think of it like a stunt coordinator but for intimacy.

The person who trained Sundaresan is Aastha Khanna, India’s first IC. She has trained six people thus far and is taking on another cohort soon. Having worked as an assistant director for several years, she was intrigued by this up-and-coming department. “It was a solution-oriented response to the #MeToo movement that focused on reducing risk spaces rather than creating a committee to deal with the after-effects,” she says.

When filming for ‘Gehraiyaan’ halted due to Covid, she decided to get certified as an IC, getting trained by Amanda Blumenthal, who has performed the role on shows like ‘Euphoria’ and ‘The Affair’.

What exactly does an IC do? They are often involved from the time of scripting — discussing “the vocabulary of intimacy” with the director and actors, as Khanna puts it. “We spend so long discussing a piece of dialogue so why not do the same with a scene of intimacy where there may or may not be any dialogue? When one has a vocabulary of intimacy that comes from the character arc and cultural context of the story, it starts to feel real, not merely titillating,” she says.

Actor and filmmaker Neha Vyaso is another IC who has been trained in the US and will complete the certification soon. Vyaso says there are essentially three roles in the West when it comes to this kind of work — an intimacy coach, coordinator and director. “I have dabbled in all of them for films and OTT shows.”

A coach conducts workshops with performers and a director actually choreographs the scene itself, while a coordinator ensures best practices are being followed.

Khanna has also spearheaded an initiative to put together intimacy guidelines to create structure around something that can often be amorphous, especially in an industry that is mired in unequal power dynamics. Consent is important, but say you’re an inexperienced actor getting their big break, can you really feel empowered to set your boundaries? Akshay Murarka, who has become South Asia’s first male intimacy coordinator after Khanna’s programme, says there is an option to walk back. “Say there’s a newcomer actor who has agreed to a scene but later changes his or her mind, consent is reversible.” 

However, whatever they signed off on in their contract may be filmed in some other fashion, using a body double or camera tricks.

This can play out in many ways, however, says Sundaresan, who is now the first IC in the South. “A director had asked me to be there for a long French kiss scene, because he didn’t want to talk to the heroine about it. On the day, she did not feel comfortable filming the scene and I supported her. But the production felt cheated. She didn’t end up filming the scene thankfully,” she says.

The role of intimacy directors has become especially important after the #MeToo movement in Hollywood. Just this week, sexual harassment allegations against producer Sebastian Bear-McClard included testimony from a young woman who says that when she was 17, she filmed a nude scene in a movie he was producing with absolutely no notice. While filming, an actor whispered in her ear asking if he could ‘stick it in’.

Back home, Naina Bhan, actor and filmmaker who was inspired by Khanna to train as a coordinator herself, points out there will always be hierarchy on the set as in any workplace. “But the question is: how do I come out with my boundaries in place, safe and least affected?” She’s learnt a lot in her training — from thinking about how the scenes are digitally stored to making sure only what an actor has consented to in their nudity rider is reflected in the edit.

One of the challenges has been creating awareness about the importance of ICs. For a while, Khanna and Vyaso were the only ICs in the industry, but now, with others getting trained, the hope is to reach out to the Producer’s Guild to push for the use of ICs. Vyaso brushes off objections that ICs break the flow.

“You don’t say that when an action director is choreographing a fight scene where someone needs to be stabbed. Both are vulnerable positions to be in. Our job is not to interfere with the director’s vision but to enhance it,” Vyaso says.

And it’s not just sex scenes where an IC could come in handy, argues Murarka. “Say, there’s a scene with a minor where a parent is giving them a bath. When you watch it, you think about a father and daughter, but the actors are strangers. Or take an item number, where we can work on the gaze, or even a medical scene like childbirth,” he says.

Bhan, having worked with an IC as an actor, attests to the feeling of safety having one on set brought her. “It’s a lot easier, knowing that someone is there for you. Just having them in the room offers support. It also breaks the power dynamic on set — sometimes it’s awkward to communicate with your co-actor. Like say someone smokes and you have to kiss them, an IC helps create a neutral buffer of communication,” says Bhan, who hopes to add intimacy coordination to her creative arsenal.

- An IC acts as a mediator with performers — outlining exactly what is expected of them and discussing their rights and boundaries to ensure they are making an empowered decision about what they wish to do on screen

- When shooting happens, they ensure there is a closed set, which means that only those who are essential to the scene are present

- They make sure the actors are wearing barriers, like L-guards which actors with penises wear or even a deflated ball that is placed between the two actors, and modesty garments — which ensure their genitals are covered

Actor Naina Bhan says working with a professional during sex scenes made her feel more safe

When filmmaker Shakun Batra approached Ananya Panday, only two films old then, for Gehraiyaan, the actor was surprised. “When he called me, I said, ‘I’ll do anything.’ I just wanted to work with Shakun,” she recollects.

However, her initial excitement turned into doubts when she read the script of the noir relationship drama. “I was not expecting it to be such a complex film. But once I lived with it for some time, I felt that I had to do it,” she recounts.

Gehraiyaan, also starring Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa, studies infidelity and betrayal through two modern-day couples. Panday walked the fine line between naiveté and maturity as she portrayed Tia, whose fiancé cheats on her with her cousin. Her performance has earned her a place in the Best Supporting Actor: Film category at the mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards.

“The character is a little older than I am in real life. Also, she was going through something that I’ve never personally experienced. I was nervous about how I would make it believable, and have a sense of maturity while playing it,” says the actor, who then found an able guide in her director.

Batra held multiple workshops with the actors before shooting the film. “We had a lot of conversations, did many workshops and readings. So, by the time I reached the set, I felt prepared. Shakun helped me break away from the [stereotypical notions] of acting, and tap into something internal. He has made me much more independent as an actor.”

Ananya Panday has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actor (Female): Film category for Gehraiyaan.

The other nominees are:

- Bhumi Pednekar (Govinda Naam Mera)

- Juhi Chawla (Sharmaji Namkeen)

- Radhika Apte (Monica O My Darling)

- Shefali Shah (Darlings)

- Swastika Mukherjee (Qala)

There are 16 categories that the public can vote in. Log on to www.radiocity.in/hitlistott to cast your vote.

Voting lines close on February 22.

Gehraiyaan, which portrayed Siddhant Chaturvedi as the uber-cool, suave dude, became a talking point last year. Of course, his pairing with Deepika Padukone created quite a splash too. The actor, who has come a long way since his MC Sher days (Gully Boy), revelled in the domestic noir drama and followed that with the horror comedy Phone Bhoot, which also starred Katrina Kaif and Ishaan Khatter. It seems like playing contemporary roles comes naturally to him, but now, Siddhant is keen to take on roles that have more desiness in it, and Bollywood style masala.

He said, “Seeing films like Kantara and Pushpa, I feel that now I need to start looking for stories which are truer to our country and are more rooted. Bahut hogaye urban roles, ab mujhe thodasa desi tadka chahiye.”

He added, “I am a boy from Ballia, a small town (in Uttar Pradesh). I am very desi, but it’s just that I did films like Gully Boy and Gehraiyaan, toh woh image thodi waise (urban) ban gayi hai meri. Main toh UP ka Ganga kinare wala ladka hoon.”

Even though he’s been a part of the film industry for five years now, the actor admits that it is tough to get the kind of films he wants to do. “I think I have chosen the best of all that was thrown at me. This was the best I could do. I hope one day I receive scripts that are written keeping me in mind, and I hope that day comes soon. In the last few years, with the projects that I picked, I was just fulfilling my dreams, but now it’s time to conquer. I am done living my dreams, maine apna khoon de diya hai, ab meri baari hai,” he said.

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.

Despite acquiring a yellow belt in judo, karate and taekwondo, and spending his childhood indulging in sports like football and kho-kho, Siddhant Chaturvedi never looked at fitness as an identity until the age of 26. “I have played my way through fitness,” says the actor, speaking to mid-day from the sidelines of the Skechers Mumbai Walkathon.

“I love combat, and especially kicking. In the city, buried under skyscrapers, there’s hardly any place to play. That’s also the reason I signed up for a [football league].”

He presents a unique case when highlighting his love for sports like parkour. “In a city where you want to reach from point A to B in a short time, you need to run while navigating obstacles. That  is why I learnt the sport for two years. The idea of reaching destinations in the shortest time possible, and leaping over obstacles [appealed to me]. The drills are so challenging that becoming fit is a by-product. In fact, I was shooting for an action film that releases next year. And while the [international] team was to turn up here three months ahead of the shoot to train me, they decided that they only needed a month, because I showed them videos of what I could pull off.”

The actor pins the blame of his inability to easily acquire a desired “aesthetic appearance for cinema”, on his mother. “While that kind of a body is not even healthy, and is very difficult to acquire, it’s tough for me, because I live with my family, and my mother is a brilliant cook. She doesn’t let me acquire those [defined] abs as quickly as I could. So, when I shoot outdoors, like I did for Gehraiyaan and my upcoming action film in Portugal, I can get fitter, faster, because she’s not around.”

At the recently concluded FICCI Frames Fast Forward 2022, Ranveer Singh engaged in a detailed conversation which revolved around his learnings during the pandemic, how we all need to adapt to the changing content landscape and the way his wife, Deepika Padukone, has influenced him as an artiste. The actor spoke from his heart to a packed room full of individuals from different walks of the entertainment world, dignitaries and foreign delegates. Excerpts:

On a personal level, the pandemic has changed me and deeply affected me, as it did to everyone in the world. The Indian entertainment sphere has been rapidly accelerated to where the western entertainment spheres are now. The gulf between the big-screen and at-home entertainment has become distinct, evident from the films that have been released in the past year. It is imperative that big screen films are made on a huge scale and are a community-watching experience. The community viewing experience is as important as enjoying a movie or a show all by oneself at home.

The rise of new verticals is evident. It’s all one giant landscape of entertainment now. The average Indian consumer has access to every kind of content at the click of a button, so there is an extra onus on us to look at the content we are creating. I am committed to big-screen cinema and excited about my releases in the forthcoming months. Yes, it is alarming that we have 12,000 cinemas shrinking to 8,000, but we are the people who are committed to the cause of big screen entertainment, and I hope we can adapt and deliver content that brings people back to theatres. After the pandemic, when I went back to cinemas, I felt like I had missed this experience.

As an entertainer, I want to contribute to things that make people laugh and entertain them. My next offering, Cirkus, is the kind of film you expect Rohit Shetty to deliver, and you go into a theatre seeking that. I have consciously chosen to be a part of this, and you have to give something to the audience that justifies their time and money.

I couldn’t have dreamed of being here. It’s almost every day that I wake up with gratitude, and I can hardly believe I am in this position where I am working with the finest filmmakers and working on the biggest offerings. I can’t believe it has happened to me. I feel like I am dreaming. I think 12 years usually is long enough for people to believe and for things to sink in, but it hasn’t sunk in for me. I am just as hungry as I was when I started. The hunger to do more and do better is still blazing.

Deepika is a consummate professional with exemplary habits. I learn a lot from her. It’s been a while since we acted together. Bajirao Mastani is where we had a large number of scenes together. People liked the little portion we had in '83. Since we shot Bajirao Mastani, there has been immense personal growth, and as people and actors, we grew and navigated our spaces as actors.

The kind of credibility she brings to her work is amazing. For someone who has dealt with anxiety and mental health issues, to performher part in Gehraiyaan with that excellence is something. It is authentic, has finesse and is honest. I admire her craft and want to work with her again.

On a personal level, her art of creating work-life balance and sustainable life choices with authenticity is what I love. It has been a decade since we started dating. And she is one of the greatest blessings that I am grateful to have.

I think this is the best time to work in Indian entertainment. I was talking to aspiring actors once, and I told them that this time is very different from when I started. Things were insulated then and the opportunities were fewer. Today, you have OTT platforms and films and so many employment chances. Back then, we didn’t have OTT channels and we would have to network, going to offices and meeting people with physical copies of our pictures. That’s how we got our foot into the door. When asked for advice, I just say that my story and time were different and your path and journey to get your foot into the door will be different, but I will encourage you to take the plunge.

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 Siddhant Chaturvedi is relatively new to the industry, he has had the opportunity to share screen space with some of Bollywood’s top stars. In his debut film Gully Boy (2019), he teamed up with Ranveer Singh, and he romanced Deepika Padukone in Gehraiyaan, which released earlier this year.

Ask him if he was star-struck by any of the actors he worked with, and he says, “I was starstruck around Ranveer. The day after I saw Padmaavat, I had my first reading for Gully Boy with him. I was blown away by his portrayal of Alauddin Khilji. To play MC Sher with the actor who played Khilji was unnerving, but when I met him for the reading, he was completely Murad (Ranveer’s character in Gully Boy). There was nothing Khilji-like about him. I was astonished by how easily and flawlessly he submits himself to his screen characters.”

When asked how similar or different it is working with Ranveer and Deepika, Siddhant reveals, “Ranveer has a different way of making you feel comfortable. He has a way of empowering you. He charges you up. On the other hand, Deepika will stand quietly by your side and make you feel like an equal. She is simple and makes you feel like her friend. That’s also comforting. You are not charged up, but you feel at ease. As MC Sher, I had to be charged up and motivated enough to motivate Murad. In Gehraiyaan, I had to be comfortable enough to romance Deepika. They have their own unique personality and traits. The common factor is that they both are incredibly helpful co-stars.”

The one major thing that differentiates OTT and theatrical releases is the absence of numbers. There’s no box office online, and the entire focus is on the kind of content. So then, what defines a hit project on the web? No data gets released regarding the number of viewers as well.

Filmmaker Shakun Batra, whose film Gehraiyaan released directly on an OTT platform, had told us earlier, “I have the same question. Given how the industry is moving forward, we will have to define a new metric of success for films on OTT. Now, it is generally word of mouth like, ‘Oh a lot of people watched it’. I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon get metrics [for web space] that can be compared.”

For now, however, that seems unlikely. And actors are only too happy that people will watch something not just based on the hype around how much money it has earned. Actor Maanvi Gagroo, who has done popular web shows, such as Tripling and Four More Shots Please! (both have third seasons coming up), shares, “I have to rely on audience reactions to know whether my show has worked or not. And that’s a big change that social media has brought about. Earlier, there were very few avenues, and we’d get to interact with our viewers only through middlemen. Now, I can talk directly to people, though it’s still filtered.”

Mozez Singh, who directed the medical thriller Human, says they do get access to internal data through the OTT platform, but it’s never released. “I can just can say that the amount of people who reached out to me, the way they reacted to it... it was utterly overwhelming. I never experienced such adulation for my work, so I can call it a hit,” he tells us.

There have been instances where makers had allegedly fudged box office numbers to show inflated figures for their films. So, Sharib Hashmi feels things are more “transparent” on web. The actor, who has done popular OTT shows such as Asur and The Family Man, adds, “The reactions on social media are enough to know how well a project is doing. It’s better than any numbers... No talk about collections is good. Hit ya no hit, baat kaam ki hoti hai.”

Rasika Dugal concurs as she states, “The audience is very smart today. They know what they like and what they don’t. It’s encouraging to see that they watch [something for] the content and don’t focus on anything else. That’s what makes a project hit on this medium.”