Ananya Panday has no time for things most girls her age relish doing — not even celebrate her birthday. She isn’t, however, complaining. Rather, the Student Of The Year 2 debutant, who recently turned 21, is happy to have spent a working birthday this year. She says the day highlighted the most special year of her life.
“I actually got to live my dream of becoming an actor. That’s what I wanted to do my entire life,” Ananya said.
“I am blessed and lucky. I am grateful that people have liked my performance in my very first film. I hope they continue to like me in the future as well. This is just the beginning of a great, beautiful journey and I am super excited. I feel overwhelmed!,” gushed actor, looking back at her journey.
Her first birthday after becoming an actor was all about work as usual, rather than cakes, merriment and partying. “I went for dance rehearsals of a song in Pati Patni Aur Woh. It’s been a working birthday but I am happy.”
It was dad’s advice that she work on her birthday, she reveals. “Dad told me you should be working on your birthday because if you work on your birthday, then you will be working throughout the year. I am going to follow his advice and work on every birthday,” she added.
On the work front, the actor will next be seen in the romantic comedy Pati Patni Aur Woh, which is a remake of the BR Chopra classic made in 1978, having the same title. In the remake, Ananya stars alongside Kartik Aaryan and Bhumi Pednekar. The film is directed by Mudassar Aziz and slated for a December 6 release.
Opening up on the film, she shared: “I think remakes are a lot of fun. We added our own tadka to it and made it modern and relatable in the present times. Even a college student can relate to the feeling of being stuck in a relationship with someone and liking someone else or having feelings for different people. I think it is a very universal feeling. I hope everyone relates to it. I had a lot of fun shooting the film and I hope that translates on the screen.”
On her character in the film and why she is nervous about it, Ananya said: “I am actually very nervous because I am playing a character slightly older than my age. It’s very different from how people have seen me in Student Of The Year 2.”
The actor also expressed her love for the rom-com genre. “I have always been the kind of person who is instinctive. I always do what my gut tells me to do. I am young and fond of rom-coms and light-hearted films. That’s the zone I am sticking to right now. I think I am drawn to scripts I would like to watch as an audience.”
Her other film Khali Peeli is the sort of experiment she wanted to do. She is eager to foray the domain of web shows. “I have gotten a few (offers) and I am very interested in the digital space. I love watching digital shows. I am completely open to working in the digital (domain). I am just waiting for the right one,” she revealed.