Anushka Sharma: Daring, Darling And Unscripted

Going from an effervescent wedding planner to a ballsy noirheroine, actor-producer Anushka Shamrais the queen of transformation. With a spectrum of new movies in the can this year, including one in which she plays a wrestler , she is ready toshow her true grit, says Megha Mahindru

- Megha Mahindru

Anushka Sharma is convincing even without a script. She speaks so fast, and with such earnestness, that in two hours I feel like I know her.

We’re in the living room of her Andheri penthouse, sitting on a black sectional sofa strewn with quirky cushions, beneath a New York-style exposed brick wall. On the wall above our heads is a massive abstract photo frame, and in my vision is Sharma, curled up in skinny jeans and a black tank, with the backdrop of the sun setting on Versova beach. “I don’t understand art, so I don’t have any paintings. For me, that would be a waste of money. Photographs are more real for me, so you’ll find pictures and posters rendered on different surfaces across the house,” she says.

“Waste of money” is not a phrase many actors use. For Sharma, this penny-wise attitude comes from her upbringing as an Army kid, something that has calcified her public image of the terminally honest girl-next-door— the anti-diva in Bollywood who has a hearty laugh and says what she feels like saying.

Today, Sharma is the big-ticket actor who still lives with her family and wouldn’t have it any other way; her 20th-floor apartment is next to ones belonging to her brother and parents. “It’s a good setup. While I’m living with my parents, I still have my apartment. We are a close-knit family, so staying together is the best feeling,” she says.

It’s perfect given her idea of unwinding: “When I’m not shooting, I love spending time at home—talking to my parents, playing with my dog (a frisky Labrador named Dude) and just watching shows like Brain Games with my dad.”