Mahesh Bhatt (second from right) and Pooja Bhatt (third from right) at the inauguration PHOTO: HTCS

Celebrities, long at the receiving end of social media trolls, are giving it back, more so to those who issue rape or death threats
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; July 19, 2020)

There’s no end to social media toxicity, but the recent incidents of celebrities getting rape and death threats on these platforms have raised an alarm, not just on women’s safety, but on trolls in general. Many celebs who were at the receiving end, tackled such incidents admirably.

Actor Alia Bhatt’s sister, author Shaheen Bhatt, named and shamed the people who issued them threats. “...to those of you who think it’s okay to send me or anyone messages full of hate: If you send me a message with the sole hope of humiliating, insulting, or bullying me.. I will NOT protect your identity.… I WILL use all legal recourse available..” Actor Rhea Chakraborty, girlfriend of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, too, shared a screenshot of an Instagram direct message, exposing the user’s profile name and picture.

POSITIVE EXAMPLE
Yogita Bhayana, founder of NGO PARI, shares that public figures speaking up is a good sign. “These celebs have the backing and should not take this nonsense at all. A normal girl might not feel empowered, but actors can speak up,” she says, adding she has faced such threats in the past.

Counselling psychologist Sachita Sethi concurs that when celebs make such a statement, it helps highlight the issue. “It’s good that celebs are coming out, they’ll be role models for youngsters.”

Emphasising that most trolls assume an anonymous identity, clinical psychologist Pulkit Sharma says, “It’s because of the medium that gives the comfort of lashing out without consequences.”

CASES ON THE RISE
Cyber bullying cases are, of late, more rampant. Rekha Sharma, chairperson, National Commission for Women (NCW) elaborates, “Since the lockdown started, NCW received 289 complaints on cyber crime and took suo motu cognisance of several cases on which it was tagged on Twitter. We need more trained police officials to help us solve these cases.”

Bhayana adds this is where the problem lies. “Even if you talk to experts, there are no clear guidelines. If you go to a police station, they’ll direct you to the cyber cell,” she says.

ACTORS hit back
Last month, actor Meera Chopra was left shaken after receiving threats from the fans of a popular Telugu actor. “It makes a difference to somebody’s psyche,” she asserts.

Actor Richa Chadha doesn’t take online bullying quietly, and says most people who issue violent threats online, rely on anonymity. “Some do it to get famous and end up in jail like Shubham Mishra (who gave rape threats to stand-up comic Agrima Joshua). Whatever we do online, has consequences,” she says.

And recently, actor Sonam Kapoor aka Sonam K Ahuja took to Instagram to share a death threat her sister, Rhea received. “Instagram doesn’t think death threats is a violation or their India team can’t read Hindi,” she wrote when they refused to take down the comment.
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ACTORS SIGN #INDIAAGAINSTABUSE PETITION
Recently, actor Kalki Koechlin told HT in an interview she had to ignore “toxic stuff” on the internet for her mental health. Now, she and actors Sayani Gupta, Dia Mirza, Sonam K Ahuja and Maanvi Gagroo have signed the #IndiaAgainstAbuse petition. On Instagram, they shared stories about rape and death threats women receive online, and asked their followers to join hands to make social media safe for them again.

While celebrities turning authors is not a new trend, Indian publishing today is increasingly looking at children of stars to write the next bestseller
Urvashi Bahuguna (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 28, 2020)

Step through the doors of a bookstore in India today and chances are you will see a prominently displayed title or two by a celebrity. With the presence of a wildly popular film and television industry in the country, it is unsurprising that publishers seek out actors and stars for memoirs and the occasional work of fiction. But a less obvious publishing practice, we’ve seen of late, is the commissioning of books written by the children of celebrities.

Some recently published titles include Shweta Bachchan-Nanda’s collection of short stories, Paradise Towers, Aishwaryaa Rajnikant Dhanush’s Standing On An Apple Box: The Story of A Girl Among The Stars (right), Shaheen Bhatt’s I’ve Never been (Un) Happier, Soha Ali Khan’s The Perils of Being Moderately Famous and Esha Deol Takhtani’s Amma Mia: Stories, Advice and Recipes from One Mother to Another.

While publishing celebrities is not a particularly new phenomenon, Mirror spoke to a few publishing houses, industry veterans, book critics and writers to get a sense of why a name matters, what drives this trend and what place it may or may not have in our burgeoning reading culture.

Art of selling
“Most people assume publishers will publish anyone who has a famous name,” laments Gurveen Chadha, a senior commissioning editor at Penguin Random House India, “While celebrity books are an easy sell, it has to be a compelling story at the end of the day — whether written by a celebrity or non-celebrity. Of course, selling a celebrity book is a tad easier, but if there’s no story to tell in the first place, the book will eventually tank.” Diya Kar, a senior commissioning editor at Harper Collins India, agrees that the talent of the person in the limelight is what eventually draws publishers to these deals.

Shaheen Bhatt (daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt), who wrote a candid memoir about her struggle with depression, says she recognised that her privilege provided her with a platform. She felt compelled to use it to reduce the stigma around mental health. “When I first began talking about mental health publicly in articles and on social media, the response I got was far greater than anything I could have anticipated,” she shares. “I was flooded with hundreds of messages from people telling me that they were going through their own trials with mental health. I saw the difference sharing was making.” When Penguin approached her, she chose to go forward because a book could potentially reach far more people than a social media post. But I’ve Never Been (Un)happier wasn’t easy to write. She would work on it for a day before having to step away from it for several days because of the toll of “forcibly reliving bad memories”. Ultimately, she is glad she did it because she says she is “much more at ease” with herself and the world around her, “now that I have been able to lay my heart bare. There is nothing to hide anymore.” She was inspired by her father who never held anything back in his writing.

Esha Deol, who is the mother of two young daughters, intends her book to be a “helping hand” for new mothers. In what she describes as her “first clueless year of motherhood” she encountered surprises every day. As she overcame them, she realised she wanted to share her experience with other mothers. She wanted to convey that “if I am able to do all these things, so can you.” Writing in the middle of the night, she spent a year-and--a-half working on Amma Mia as she went through the pregnancy and birth of her second child. Experiencing the emotions of pregnancy and the early stages of being a mother all over again was really helpful as she wrote. She’s penned down everything she went through alongside recipes and advice, and she hopes Amma Mia is everything a new mother is looking for.

A number game
Shobhaa De, Mirror columnist and the author of multiple books, suggests that a significant social media presence is a key determinant in these publishing decisions. On Instagram, Soha Ali Khan has 2.3 million followers, Esha Deol has 1 million, Shweta Bachchan-Nanda has 3,40,000, Shaheen Bhatt has 2,32,000 and Aishwaryaa Dhanush has 1,68,000. On Twitter, Ali Khan has 2.1 million, Deol has 3,56,694, Bachchan-Nanda has 42,983 and Dhanush has 1.7 million. Referring to social media’s impact on sales, Chadha says: “I believe we tend to buy books that have already done the rounds on social media and there are very few readers visiting bookstores looking for new writers or a new book. Most come with their minds already made up.” But like Kar, she sees this as only one of many factors that help sales.

While sales numbers for these books were not disclosed by the publishers, sources within the industry are not convinced that each of these books necessarily turns a profit. A publishing house employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that in these cases, the investment from the publisher is substantial in terms of advances and marketing budget.

Kanishka Gupta, a literary agent and author, stresses that in addition to the above there are hidden costs for the publisher such as editorial trips to work with the celebrities, launches at top hotels and ghost writer fees, which are expenses they don’t normally encounter with other authors. With these steep costs in mind, he believes the profit margins may not be significant. Moreover, he has found in his experience of promoting books that there is no guaranteed correlation between social media following and book sales. He believes that the number of followers is less important than the quality of the celebrity’s content and the level of engagement of the followers.

Westland Books’ publisher Karthika V K believes that exceptional success stories within this genre keep publishers interested. She says, “It’s not as though every book written by a celeb becomes a hit, but there are enough success stories for us to know that the offtake from retail is quicker and more positive. Whether the celeb is connected to entertainment or politics or sport or self-help, there are existing channels of communication and marketing, which are already open and can be effectively leveraged.”

Aditya Mani Jha, a former commissioning editor at Penguin Random House and book critic, believes that even if each of these books is not profitable, a publishing house may take them on because they can risk “a small loss in the short-term so that they are in the good books of the celebrity whose family member wrote the thing and are well-placed to represent the ‘actual’ celebrity later”. The aforementioned anonymous employee also says that nepotism is a driving force where offspring of eminent personalities have easy rides to publication.

Some star power
Both De and Gupta see this publishing practice as an extension of society’s obsession with celebrities. Chadha appears to agree to an extent stating, “We’re a celebrity-obsessed country and there’s a vicarious thrill in reading about the lives of your favourite stars in books. It’s a sneak preview into their lives that you may otherwise not have access to. The interest in such books is massive and they generally tend to do well. In fact, some of the biggest bestsellers today tend to be celebrity books. It’s a very dependable publishing trend.”

According to Kar, the honour of being an author, and having a published book on the shelf, is what motivates celebrities to try their hand at writing. Chadha finds that for non-established names: “it’s a way to reinvent themselves, to use books as a medium to showcase a part of themselves with the world that they might not necessarily have otherwise.” Karthika imagines that “it’s a matter of legacy as well as brand extension, depending on where they are positioned in their careers.” De says, “Star kids have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by lending their names to books. They get invited to book fairs and literary festivals, where they even get mobbed.”

The question of quality is harder to assess. Gupta argues that both Bhatt and Ali Khan deserved to be published on the merit of their stories alone, though he qualifies this by saying that even good celebrity writers are often overrated. The quality of the books does affect sales, according to both Kar and Chadha, who state that in the long run, word-of-mouth endorsements and the book’s calibre are what sustain sales. Chadha further stresses that “a lot of these books are original, ambitious in scope and writing and really, really good.”

Screenwriter Shaheen Bhatt’s debut book ‘I’ve Never Been (un)Happier’ is a candid account of her 20-year-long struggle with depression and life in a famous filmi family. She spoke to Shobita Dhar about how writing helped her survive the dark times
Shobita Dhar (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 12, 2020)

You make an interesting point in the book about how we have fetishised happiness. This often puts pressure on people to appear happy all the time and not pay attention to their sadness. Is that why people delay seeking help?
If we’re not happy all the time we’re programmed to automatically assume that there’s something wrong with us. No one wants to feel like they’re a broken thing that needs fixing, no one wants to feel like they’re weak so you delay getting help because even the idea of “getting help” has negative connotations. It suggests that you’re incapable. It suggests that you have somehow lost control. There’s also a general resistance built into us when it comes to talking about ‘negative’ or unpleasant feelings or things. As a result, we often don’t even know how to talk about anything remotely difficult.

The book includes many moving and terrifying pages from the diary you kept. Did writing help you through the dark days?
I’ve journalled since I was 12 years old, which is when depression first started for me. I had to do something with the overwhelming feelings I was experiencing, so I wrote about them. Writing has been one of the greatest tools for healing — it helped me process and expel every bad feeling I couldn’t make sense of. It helped me see patterns, it helped me understand myself better and it helped me get through it all.

You’ve been very candid — your dad’s addiction to first alcohol and then work, your own troubled relationship with food and alcohol, your insecurities when Alia found fame. Now that the book is out, do you regret your honesty even a teeny tiny bit?
Launching a book involves a lot of press and talking about yourself especially if you’ve written about yourself, and talking about myself is something that I’m not used to doing. It feels self-indulgent and self-involved to me. For me, the only time I regretted it was when I had to discuss myself in interviews and I was worried that the larger message (about mental health) was getting lost. Otherwise — nope, no regrets. I’ve never really been afraid of sharing because my entire family is one that shares — we’re honest and we value vulnerability.

The account of the demons you fought is very hard to read. How hard was it to for you to write this, and what made you decide to put your pain to paper?
It was definitely hard — I had to relive things I didn’t want to. I had to go back to dark places. It sent me back into a bit of a slump that I’ve only just about gotten out of. However, it was also incredibly rewarding. It taught me so much more about myself and it allowed me the chance for profound connection with a lot of people — in the end it’s been really good for me.

You have talked about how deeply affected you were by the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. What was it that bothered you the most — the dissonance between their celebrity lives and their personal pain?
What bothered me the most was that these two, seemingly successful, middle-aged people were unable to shake the pain so far into their life. It was the fear that twenty years from now, I might still feel like this. You hope that by a certain age you will get better at least partially. It’s scary to think that you might not. It’s scary to think that there’s potentially another 30 or 40 more years of this in my future.

As a screenwriter, do you feel the way the Hindi movie industry portrays mental health needs to change?
To start with perhaps we need to tell more stories about mental health. It’s important also that we tell these stories with sensitivity and portray mental illnesses as accurately as we can. Caricaturing mental illness is dangerous because it spreads the wrong information and colour general perception. Movies are one of the best tools we have to spread messages world over and it’s always great when you can use that to good effect.

You have written about how depression affected all your relationships. Has the book helped your sister Alia and your parents understand you better?
Through my book my family has better understood the intricacies of what my mind is like on a bad day. It’s hard to let someone in when you’re in the throes of something because your focus is on just getting through it. This has helped them understand what is happening behind closed doors when I sometimes isolate myself. Through this book I’ve been able to let them into that part of my life in a much bigger way and I’ve been able to explain things to them that were hard for me to explain at one point. They’ve always understood me but through this book they saw what I’d been hiding.

Shaheen Bhatt on battling depression and helping others deal with it
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 24, 2019)

Seven years ago, when Shaheen Bhatt was assisting Vikram with Raaz 3, she was also dealing with severe bouts of depression. There wasn’t a day during the film’s 80-day schedule when Bhatt, all of 24 then, wouldn’t find herself shrinking away to the washroom to break down. “I couldn’t cry on the set in front of people, or let anyone know,” she says. “So I had to hide how I felt.”

Today, she has not only addressed her condition, but is also helping others deal with theirs. This journey is detailed in her book, I’ve Never Been (Un)Happier. Her digital campaign ‘Here Comes The Sun’, too, has garnered an overwhelming response and is inspiring others to speak up about their plight. Her decision to record her condition, however, has been met with polarising views. “Some feel that I am oversharing, others feel they can connect with what I’ve been through.”

And to think that it all began with an Instagram post in 2016. The 31-year-old remembers lying in bed, thumbing through her phone gallery for a suitable photograph to share. The shortlisted ones had her grinning, a mood starkly divorced from her own at the time of posting. She was having one of her “bad days”, and decided to speak about it in a social-media post. “I’ve written a book and headed a campaign, but that single post resonated with people a lot more,” she says. The Insta post was followed by a long first person account on copping with mental illness, which appeared in this paper, and helped Bhatt sign a book deal with Penguin. “We’re all pretending to be okay because we’re uncomfortable talking about it,” she says. “The only way to remove the stigma surrounding depression is by talking about it,” says Bhatt, who credits her family for supporting her through it all.

In the book, Bhatt also includes scanned pages from her childhood diaries, where she poured her feelings out. “It was my only release, journaling actually saved my life,” she says, adding that it was her father, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who inspired her decision to record her memories in a book. “He told me, ‘don’t let this pain go to waste… turn it into something… and it will be a lot more than what you have held and dealt with’.” In fact, her father, on reading about her struggle, even admitted that he, too, had experienced the same, but let it go undetected.

Bhatt distinctly recalls the first time she got a sense of her depression. It was in the run-up to her 12th birthday. “I thought something was wrong with me, but I couldn’t articulate it,” she says. “I would feel weird and empty and spend hours staring out of the window and couldn’t speak to anyone about it. I would be in my room for days.”

When Bhatt turned 18, she told her mother what she was going through and professional help was sought right away. “I fought treatment for a long time as I struggled with the idea that I am someone who has to take medication to control my mind,” she says.” It was her dad who explained to her that “when you have a viral, you take an antibiotic and feel better; this is the same”.

Apart from struggling to understand and accept, Bhatt read her unusual sinking feeling as a sign of “going crazy”. “I would come home and mound my plate with chawal and would keep eating till I got sick,” she says. “Soon, I had an eating disorder and slipped into a vicious circle.”

Bhatt talks of a home video she recently found of her adolescent days, where she’s seen “jumping in front of the camera”. “When we recently watched it, Alia found it surprising that she became an actress, instead of me,” she says. Despite dabbling in editing, assistant direction and even script writing, Bhatt candidly says that it wasn’t her calling.

Today, she wants to reach out to people so that they can have the right resources, such as a curated list of therapists and helpline numbers, to address their condition. “As a teenager, if I had the kind of information that people today do, I would’ve been on the path to recovery much sooner,” she says.

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 23, 2019)

Alia Bhatt was spotted at the Mumbai airport late on Monday night as she made her way to catch a flight to London. The 26-year-old actress recently wrapped up another schedule of her next Sadak 2, which is directed by her filmmaker-father Mahesh Bhatt and was on her way to the Queen’s City for a break.

According to a source, Alia wanted to spend some time with her sister, Shaheen, who is studying interior designing in the Brit capital. “Soni (Razdan, actress-filmmaker) is there, too, for a work commitment. Alia will be back in Mumbai this week and will immediately resume work,” the source informed.

Alia was in London in May, too, for some quality time with her sister and was accompanied by her Brahmastra director Ayan Mukerji, who was working on the film’s music with composer Pritam at the time. She is also scheduled to resume shooting for the film with actor-beau Ranbir Kapoor in Manali next month.

Incidentally, while the actress enjoys her brief downtime, RK was spotted posing for pics with a fan in London earlier this week.

Actor Alia Bhatt on how she learnt to deal with bouts of anxiety; and her beau Ranbir Kapoor, who played a huge role in calming her fears
Jitesh Pillaai (TIMES LIFE; January 23, 2019)

Are you a chronic worrier?
Ya, but I’ve calmed down of late. I guess it happened this year.

What gets you anxious?
I want my films to do well. But that’s not my biggest stress and fear. I get stressed if my friend is stressed about something. Say, if something is bothering Ayan (Mukerji) or Abhishek (Varman), it stresses me. Or if I have many things to do and I’m unable to do everything, it stresses me. I have bouts of anxiety every now and then. But I’ve found a way to move around it. You know you will feel low. But that only makes the high feel better.

Have you ever beaten up anyone like Safeena (Gully Boy)?
No. Never. I swear I’ve never had a cat fight. I don’t have that confrontational ability. I’m a chuha (mouse) type of person in real life. I have this need to please people. I don’t want people to not like me. But I do identify with that emotion, that feeling.

What else gives you a high, work apart... your relationship?
No ya. What’s giving me a big high right now is my relationship with myself. It’s another level of connection and a feeling of growing up that I’m experiencing right now. I’ve turned 26 two months ago. I’ve become sensitive to my environment. If I feel an environment will be too frantic for me, then I don’t go out.

How do you keep calm?
You’ve got to constantly tell yourself to calm down. The possibility of the future is so immense, it’s like being a kid in candy land. At the same time, you don’t want to get lost and be separated from your family and friends. So, it’s important for me to stay grounded.

Do you get time to nurture your relationship with yourself?
I do take that time. Even if I’m tired after a shoot, I don’t come and hit the bed immediately. I listen to music, I reflect, I read… I like waking up early in the morning so I can glance through the newspaper. I gather all my thoughts, answer messages, speak to people as to what I can do more creatively. I wasn’t getting this ‘reflection’ time last year. I began to feel like a robot. That’s when I started suffering from anxiety.

Did it take a toll on your health?
Ya, more than anything it affected my mental health. Thankfully, I didn’t fall ill. But I was just so annoyed and sleep deprived.

Have you seen a counsellor?
Ya, I have. I haven’t been depressed but I’ve had bouts of anxiety. It comes and goes. It’s been happening quite a bit since the past five to six months. It’s not like an anxiety attack but I just feel low. Thankfully, I’m aware of it because of my sister (Shaheen Bhatt). She’s fought depression. I’ve read her book. No matter how bad it is, I just let myself feel it. Sometimes, I feel like crying for no reason. Then it passes. Initially, I’d be a little confused.

I’d constantly give reasons that it’s because of work or maybe I’m tired or haven’t been able to meet anyone... The kind of personality I have, I became a little on the edge. I spoke to friends about it. I spoke to Ayan about it, I spoke to my sister’s friend Rohan (Joshi). Everyone told me that you’ve got to realise it will go away. What’s important is to accept it and not say that you’re fine. If you’re not feeling fine, then you should just say you’re not feeling fine.

Why didn’t you seek professional help then?
I wanted to but it’s not obviously reached that place where I’m desperate to speak to someone. So, I guess I’m fine. We’re privileged to be in this business and to be living this life. But a tiredness can seep in and make you feel low. There could be a scientific explanation for it as well. But I’m not shy or scared to accept that I’m feeling low. I just have to let it pass. But the time when it’s there, it’s a bit weird. I don’t know how to explain that.

What about social anxiety?
Yes, I do experience social anxiety. If I’m sitting in a group of 10 to 15 people, who I’m connected to, I’m fine. But if I go for a party or a wedding, I go wild because I don’t know what to talk to people about. I can’t make small talk.

Do you feel judged?
No. Maybe, I’m not judged.

The best advice on life, work or relationships that Ranbir has given you…
I stress about things that are not in my control. I’m an over thinker. I get anxious. There was a period when I was working hard and I was stressed. Ranbir told me if you’re working hard, you need not worry about anything else. Do the best you can and just let everything else be. That helped me. I still stress but it’s easier for me now to let it be. The maximum I can do is put in my 100 per cent. I don’t need to worry about the results.

There’s gossip about your ‘roka’ and wedding?
The only ‘Roka’ I’m going to is the restaurant in London. There’s no roka happening for me. And why are you putting a year to my marriage?

Is being in this relationship tougher compared to your previous ones?
No. It’s not a relationship. It’s a friendship. I’m saying this with all genuineness and honesty. It’s beautiful. I’m walking on stars and clouds right now. The best part is that we’re two individuals who are living our own professional lives in its full form right now. He’s shooting continuously. So am I. It’s not a situation where you’ll see us constantly together. That’s the true mark of a comfortable relationship. Nazar na lage.

How do you tackle someone as difficult as Ranbir Kapoor?
He’s not difficult. He’s a gem. But he’s had a troubled past… How does it matter? It’s part of someone’s life. Aur main thodi na kam hoon.

When did you decide that this was the guy?
When I met him for the first time in my life. Again, let me tell you he’s not difficult. He’s a supremely simple person. He’s such a nice human being that I wish I was as good as him. As an actor, as a person, as everything. He’s way better a person than I am. And about getting married? Well, that’s the only thing that’s irritating right now. Every morning I wake up to the news that I’m getting married. I tell him what the hell. I guess he’s used to it.

Ayan Mukerji, who is also in London, makes music with Pritam
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 3, 2019)

On Thursday (May2), Mirror reported that in Sadak 2, which marks Mahesh Bhatt’s return to direction after 20 years, Alia Bhatt’s character is out to expose a fake guru who runs an ashram and she will be accompanied by Sanjay Dutt’s character. While a huge set is being designed at Bandra’s Mehboob Studio for the shoot that kicks off in a fortnight’s time, the actress has taken off to London for a short break.

“After a meeting with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for her next, Inshallah, a contemporary love story with Salman Khan, Alia took off to London for a vacation. She was accompanied by her Brahmastra director Ayan Mukerji. While Alia will be enjoying some ‘we’ time with sister Shaheen, who’s studying at the Interior Design School, Ayan will be working with Pritam, who is also in London, on the film’s music,” informs a source close to the development. Ayan posted a picture from the airport, captioning it, “Adventure (of a Lifetime).”

Alia will return in the second week of May and dive immediately into prep for her first home production. 

Alia Bhatt on her very public declaration of love for Ranbir Kapoor at the recent Filmfare Awards
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 9, 2019)

After playing hide-and-seek on the subject of her relationship for a better part of a year, Alia Bhatt is ready for PDA but talking about RK is still off limits. But her first film with an ensemble cast, bagging biggies with SS Rajamouli and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and letting herself be vulnerable on screen are fair game. Excerpts from an interview:

Your upcoming film, Kalank, despite a star-studded cast that also includes Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sonakshi Sinha, is basically your character Roop’s story. A tough one to pull off?
Since I’m close to Abhishek (Varman, director) I was always aware that he was writing this film but I had no idea he was writing Roop’s character with me in mind. I was with him all through the scripting and could see how excited he was. (Smiles) And I was excited for him. When he came to me, I already knew the story and its potential. Still, I went through the process of reading it and loved it. It is a wonderful role, probably my most challenging till date because the way Roop deals with situations in her life is very different from the way I would. Her body language was also unfamiliar and so did not come naturally to me. If it works, Kalank will be an important film for me in my journey through Hindi cinema.

When you take on roles that are emotionally exhausting, do you carry them home with you even after pack-up or can you switch off easily?
I was shooting for Kalank, a period drama, and Brahmastra, a fantasy action-adventure, simultaneously so I didn’t have any choice but to switch off. The two characters are very different from each other. Having said that, there were a lot of moments in Kalank when I had to tap deep within and leave myself vulnerable on screen. It’s not often that you need to dig deep into your core so early in life, but because of characters like Roop, I’ve been going to these places without prior planning.

And how does it feel when you reach these places?
There’s a strange sense of relief… You feel like you have unlocked another box.

This is your fourth film with Varun after Student of the Year and the Dulhania series, but this is the first time you’re a part of an ensemble cast. How was the experience?
For me as an actress it’s interesting to be a part of an ensemble cast. For the audience too it’s been a while since we had an ensemble film where every character has his or her own backstory and graph. It’s always lovely to work with Varun as we enjoy a certain comfort level. We understand each other, even take each other for granted, but also feed off each other’s passion. Kalank was my first film with Adi (Aditya Roy Kapur) and it has been an honest give-and-take equation. Working with Madhuri ma’am and Sanjay sir was the stuff dreams are made of. And Sona and I had a lovely time on the shoot, she is a fine actor, so effortless.

How does it feel to be working in the biggest projects and with the biggest directors — SS Rajamouli’s RRR and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ishallah with Salman Khan—when you are just 26?
I don’t think my age should be seen as a barometer for success. Age is just a number. Of course I’m grateful for the films I’ve got and excited about the future. It’s also a little scary.

Tell us about these films?
These beautiful opportunities have come into my life almost simultaneously and I hold them in great regard. They have made me more focussed and dedicated as an actress. I’m waiting to start the journey. They have already been announced so I’d rather work than talk about them.

There’s also Takht and the biopic of mountaineer Arunima Sinha…
Yes, Takht is coming up. Karan (Johar) is directing me again, seven years after my debut, Student Of The Year, and that makes it special. There is conjecture about several other films but only the ones I have mentioned have been confirmed. Of course I will always be looking for good roles and I’m in talks for other projects.

At the recent Filmfare Awards, while accepting your Best Actress trophy for Raazi, you pointed to Ranbir Kapoor and said, “Tonight is all about love; there, my special one, I love you.” And when his name was announced he kissed you first before walking up to the stage. Are these actions and announcements an official confirmation of your relationship?
That was not an announcement. And I don’t need to defend what I did because it was very personal.

On the topic of marriage, your mother, Soni Razdan, was recently quoted as saying that you are “too young to rush into any lifetime decision”...
I don’t know in what context she said it so it’s difficult to comment.

Your sister Shaheen Bhatt has been away in London, studying interior design. When you bought your own apartment, she and you were sharing it. How have you been dealing with her absence?
I miss her, she returned to Mumbai last Saturday and will be here for the next two weeks. I’m happy to have her back and we will be spending time together.