In a candid conversation with Lehren, Anu Aggarwal opens up about how filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt offered the actress her debut role in Aashiqui. The artist reveals being an actor since childhood who used to perform long monologues at stage shows. Anu also shares an incident, where the latter had to vacate her p.g accomodation as fans used to gather around the venue, just in order to greet their favourite Aashiqui Girl. Aggarwal concludes by enlightening upon her yoga regime & gives an honest take on Aashiqui 2.
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PeopleTranscript
00:00If you remember your first meeting with Mr. Bhatt, how did it happen, where did it happen?
00:04With Mahesh Bhatt?
00:05Yes, with Mahesh Bhatt.
00:06I don't know where he saw me, I have no idea.
00:11And I met him when I was with another friend.
00:17But again, I would like to say that when things happen,
00:25it doesn't happen overnight.
00:30A person plans a lot, tries to do something, but it doesn't happen.
00:35So what was your first reaction when Mr. Bhatt said that you are a rising star
00:41and I am thinking of making a film and making you a heroine.
00:45So when Mr. Bhatt said this, what was your reaction?
00:49My first reaction was that I was going to Paris,
00:53my life was going on, I had some decisions,
00:58I had to go there, everything was organized.
01:03So my first reaction was that I am going to Paris.
01:08And my second reaction was that I don't want to work in Hindi films as an actor.
01:14Because what kind of acting do girls do?
01:18Her role as a heroine is just 2-3 songs and 1-2 tear jerking scenes.
01:26So my role, I have been getting monologues since childhood.
01:31So my start was in 7th standard when I did a Greek monologue for school.
01:37And it was a full monologue of 12 A4 size sheets.
01:44A boy asks a philosophical question and I answer it in 12 sheets.
01:55So this was my start. I was 11 years old when I did this.
02:02And then slowly I got monologues in school and college.
02:07Then I met Kamla Das, a writer.
02:10She was very daring at that time.
02:15So I did her monologue.
02:19I was chosen for her play.
02:22So somehow or the other, monologues used to come to me.
02:26So it never happened that acting is in my veins.
02:36I have it in my veins too.
02:39I don't know where this acting comes from.
02:42It is born.
02:44When Aashiq was released, when you came to know that the film is being liked so much
02:49and fans are going crazy, you became a star overnight.
02:54So the feeling you had at that time must have been a strange feeling
02:58that you couldn't understand what to do.
03:00No, it wasn't like that actually.
03:02I didn't know what it was.
03:05What does a film mean when it is a hit?
03:09I didn't know what fans are.
03:12I didn't know.
03:14I don't have a single distant cousin in my family who is in the industry.
03:21Our family is more into spiritual, economics, economics, and education.
03:32So we didn't watch films much.
03:35Maybe that's why you didn't know about social service.
03:37Yes, I didn't know about social service.
03:39The line was different.
03:42So I didn't have an idea.
03:44I was like, wow, this happened.
03:47Oh, okay.
03:50But I didn't know what the result would be.
03:53I didn't know that the result would be millions of fans.
03:59I didn't have an idea.
04:03But yes, whenever you do any work,
04:09when you get the appreciation for it,
04:12your heart gets excited.
04:14Oh, wow, I did a good job.
04:16People liked it.
04:18So you do get happiness.
04:21So your life must have changed.
04:23It was a normal life before,
04:25but after the blockbuster film,
04:27when you got fans,
04:29with your slogans and posters.
04:32Life became difficult.
04:34First of all,
04:36yes, fans are coming and going.
04:39This is one way.
04:41But living became difficult.
04:45Because the normal life I was leading
04:47was already abnormal.
04:49I was living alone in P.G.
04:51And suddenly the P.G. staff
04:53told me that
04:55there are so many people
04:57outside your house.
04:59You will have to leave.
05:01Now where do I go at night?
05:03Where do I find P.G.?
05:05At that time, where were the agents
05:07like they are today?
05:09So I was looking for an agent.
05:11I was walking around with a bag at night.
05:13Life was so difficult.
05:16I was looking for a heroine.
05:18What should I say?
05:20Heroine is looking for P.G.
05:26So it became difficult.
05:28Life became very difficult.
05:30But yes,
05:32looking positively,
05:34every challenge in life
05:36teaches you something.
05:38I learned a lot.
05:40I think my growth
05:42was very fast.
05:44I was 22 years old.
05:46But I already took decisions for myself.
05:48I used to handle my finances.
05:50I used to decide
05:52which picture to do,
05:54which not to do.
05:56Decision making.
05:58I learned a lot
06:00from my family.
06:02But when you live alone,
06:06you have to handle a lot of things.
06:10It starts becoming your personality.
06:13When you lie,
06:15it becomes a different personality.
06:19When you are alone,
06:21you can become negative.
06:23You can start doing drugs.
06:25You can start stealing.
06:27And there are people
06:29who take it positively.
06:31My spirituality
06:33increased after that.
06:35When I left films,
06:37I started doing yoga in 1995-1997.
06:39Do you remember any experience
06:41like Rahul Rai's film
06:43which was new at that time?
06:45And today,
06:47after 30-32 years,
06:49when you meet,
06:51what do you talk about?
06:53We don't meet.
06:55I don't go out.
06:57I don't go to parties.
06:59It's all written somewhere.
07:01I don't go anywhere.
07:03I go to sleep at 10 am.
07:05I wake up at 4.30 am
07:07and start praying.
07:09My whole day
07:11has changed
07:13since I started doing yoga.
07:15My whole lifestyle
07:17is yoga.
07:19Yoga is my lifestyle.
07:21Yoga is not just asana and pranayama.
07:23Yoga is a way of thinking.
07:25And there are
07:27many practices
07:29of that way of thinking.
07:31When you go deep into yoga,
07:33we don't know about it in the city.
07:35If we talk about the poster
07:38neither your face
07:40nor Rahul Rai's face was revealed.
07:42Didn't you feel
07:44when you saw the poster
07:46that we are working as a lead
07:48and our face is not shown in the poster?
07:50No, I loved the poster.
07:52Was there any logic behind it?
07:54Not at all.
07:56More than myself,
07:58I always have a bigger picture
08:00than my ego.
08:02The beauty of the film,
08:04the artistic things,
08:06the creativity of the film
08:08is more important to me.
08:10So, I don't feel
08:12why my face is not shown in the poster.
08:14I feel, how does the poster look?
08:16What is the background?
08:18What is the light?
08:20What is the slogan?
08:22I loved it.
08:24Love makes life live.
08:26I said, wow, what a slogan.
08:28And I felt
08:30I didn't know
08:32actually
08:35I didn't know
08:37that the poster would have
08:39our face in it.
08:41We had shot that scene
08:43but I didn't know
08:45that it would be in the poster.
08:47But when I saw it,
08:49I said, wow, what a mystery.
08:51Because now
08:53people don't know who is inside.
08:55And what they are doing inside
08:57is not known.
09:01I thought it was a great poster.
09:03After two decades
09:05when Aashiqui 2 came,
09:07the same kind of poster was revealed.
09:09I was not around.
09:11I went to Yoga.
09:13After that, I was not in touch
09:15with the film industry.