Bollywood actress Ananya Panday stepped into the film industry in 2019 with ‘Student of the Year 2’ and has since, gone on to portray several characters in films like ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ and ‘Gehraiyaan.’ Despite being part of several other notable films, not all of them have been box office hits. Now, looking back at her career, the actress recently discussed why she took up certain films for reasons she now considers wrong.
In a conversation with Film Companion, she said, “I think maybe I did it for the wrong reasons, and I always knew that somewhere in my heart. Then when it didn’t go exactly as planned, I think it reinforced my belief in myself a lot more that you just have to go with your instinct because that’ll always pay off. You know working with good people, doing a script you believe in, in some way, is always going to pay off.”
Ananya, who is the daughter of Chunky and Bhavna Panday, has now developed a deep passion for acting and approaches her film roles with a strong sense of responsibility. She said, “I feel like I’ve lost myself and I’ve just fallen in love with the process of it (acting)… I don’t want to do less, and I feel like it’ll be a disappointment to so many, you know, women and girls out there if I reduce them to that as well, because at the end of the day, I’m portraying them on screen. I’m telling their stories, so I don’t want to do any injustice to them in that way.”
The ‘Liger’ actress also revealed that filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane helped her recognize that she tends not to seek input from anyone else when finalizing a script for herself. “As Vikram sir said, I’ve always been a people pleaser and a teacher’s pet, so it’s very important for me to get better with everything that I do. So every time I’m choosing a script, that’s why maybe, he said I don’t listen to too many people around me. It has to come from within. If I have to be convinced to do something, it never goes right,” she went on to say.
She also revealed that it’s through her experience that she has learned that she will always be bringing something new and fresh to the table.
