“I’m not too swayed by success or failure.” Ananya Panday opened up about how she strikes a balance between stardom and reality.
📹: Humans of Bombay
📹: Humans of Bombay
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00You see me at the airport, I'm roaming in my chashma and a sweatshirt and my hair is all oily
00:03So I used to just cry and I used to be like not able to move on from things
00:09I just wanted to be famous, I wanted to be an actress, I wanted to see myself on the big screen
00:13That was it
00:23From your first day on Student of the Year as a 17 year old
00:28Oh my god, you're throwing it back
00:29But to now and being Bae, how has it shifted for you, right?
00:34Like how you see yourself, not just as an actor but as a person
00:38Because basically you can map your transition like most people can't on camera
00:42When I used to act, I used to hold back a lot because I used to be very scared of judgment
00:47I used to be like okay if I do this then people will not think it's good
00:50So I used to hold back, I used to like protect myself a little bit
00:54But a change that's especially happened in Call Me Bae is I think I'm less inhibited as an actor
01:00Because when you're doing comedy, like I was in comedy for the first time
01:04You can't be inhibited, you can't hold back, you have to make mistakes
01:08Look as silly as possible and try to do something different
01:11And that's when you get the best results
01:12So I think confidence is also coming out
01:16So this is like from your actor self, right?
01:20What about Ananya? Just Ananya who goes back home and isn't on a set
01:25What about Ananya as a person?
01:27I think as a person not that much has changed
01:30I definitely feel like I'm a lot stronger than I was before
01:33Like first when I started out the smallest of things used to affect me so much
01:37Like I used to just cry and I used to be like not able to move on from things
01:42I would keep going and reading even the smallest of things and just get very very affected
01:46But I think the person that I am today, I don't get affected by any sort of negativity or hate
01:54But that could also not be good
01:57Because I feel like I'm less affected by the good also now
02:00You know like when I started out when someone praised me
02:02I'd be like, oh my god, thank you so much, tell me more
02:05But now I think I'm just a little more neutral to everything
02:10Like you're more centered
02:12Yeah, I'm more centered
02:13I'm not too swayed by success or failure
02:16So what do you think of fame, the industry as a whole?
02:21When I started out and when I was younger, I just wanted to be famous
02:24I wanted to be an actress
02:25I wanted to see myself on the big screen
02:27That was it, that's all I wanted
02:29And when I started actually working, I was like, I don't think I want just that
02:33You know, for me now, my priority is being the best possible actor that I can be
02:37You know, getting the best at my craft
02:39So I think people have different priorities
02:41And it's okay at different points in your life for those priorities to change also
02:46You know, I love being famous
02:48You know, I love being in the position that I am
02:51I love being recognized because my dad always says that, you know
02:55If you're walking someone, people don't come up to you
02:57You'll be so sad and so upset because you work for this
02:59You work for the audience's love and their appreciation
03:02And for me, fame is that, you know, fame is not just being seen
03:05It's being loved by that many people
03:08I like it in the most tangible term when I can see the returns of that
03:11When I can see impact that my work has on people
03:15Or when I can actually see people come up to me and talk about my work
03:18So that's the way I kind of see fame
03:20It is glamorous also, that is a part of it
03:22But then there's also long hours, sacrifices, which is there in every job
03:27But yeah, I think the best that I can do is just be as real as possible
03:31Like if I'm looking a certain way, then also the next day you see me at the airport
03:34I'm roaming in my chashma and a sweatshirt and my hair is all oily
03:37So I do try to keep it as real as possible
03:39And I voice it as much as I can
03:41You know, I tell people that no, this took me two hours to look like this
03:44These are not my own clothes
03:46Yeah, they're sourced
03:47Yeah, they're sourced
03:47I have to give them back after the shoot
03:49So yeah, I think just keeping it real as much as possible