Actress Ananya Panday recently celebrated her 22nd birthday and when you ask her how she feels about turning another year in Bollywood, she just gets excited about new and big things. Ananya says that, unlike what most might expect, she actually wants people to see her as someone older than her actual age.
Ananya says she doesn’t want to be treated like a “baby”. “I am excited to grow. It’s been a year for me in the industry and two years for Ishaan (Khatter, his co-star in Khaali Peeli). We are learning new things every day and gaining new experiences. I hope to grow in general and also in the industry. Because I feel like the older I get, the more things I am able to do, ”he told the Hindustan Times in an interview.
The actor’s latest release is Khaali Peeli. The film is directed by Maqbool Khan and stars alongside Ishaan Khatter. Ananya plays the feisty Pooja, who runs away from her forced wedding and meets her childhood sweetheart on one fateful night. A typical Bollywood masala movie, it deviates from the usual in treating its heroine. Pooja is not an accomplice of the hero of the film and is able to get out of trouble by herself, on the roofs of buses and in a stranger’s taxi. Ask Ananya about it and she will tell you how much the role was a nice change for her.
“Khaali Peeli is a typical romantic masala movie. It has a bit of everything. But for me, the most exciting thing about the film was the treatment of the film. We are not your typical hero and heroine. Pooja, my character, is not a damsel in distress. She gets into the fight. She is part of the action sequences. I thought it was really cool. When the man narrated the movie to us, I was like ‘OMG! Are you really going to do all of those things? This is my first time doing action in a movie. So I really like it and I think Pooja is super fun, she’s street smart, she’s nakhrewali, completely vaporous. She is a Hindi movie heroine and I really like that. It’s really cool to see female characters like this on screen. So many people told me after seeing that ‘you were not so typical abla naari. You got into the action, you fought for yourself, ‘”he said.
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Ananya is also filming one of the most anticipated upcoming movies: Shakun Batra’s House Noir. The movie is shrouded in mystery and details about the movie’s plot have yet to be revealed. It also stars Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi. Speaking of working with Shakun, Ananya says he’s a dream director for any actor. “I’m also very excited for this movie because Shakun is like a dream director to me. I have this list of people I want to work with and Shakun is on that list. So when I got a chance to work with him, I put a check mark near his name. It was really surreal for me. It was everything he could have dreamed of. We did many workshops and readings. Shakun is just an amazing director for an actor to work with. It gives you plenty of space and clear instructions. It just lets you play when you are on the screen. So I really enjoy the equation that I have with Shakun, ”she said, adding that she, Deepika and Siddhant are like family on sets and that she is excited to see how people receive the film, considering it explores a new genre.
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