Anushka Sharma On Movies, Marriage and Mindfulness

A fiercely talented actor and a fearless producer, Anushka Sharma is headlining a generation of power couples who are rewriting the rules. From a secret wedding in Tuscany to a career that continues to be filled with unconventional roles, her choices prove that she is now, more than ever, comfortable with who she is, finds Renuka Joshi Modi

- Renuka Joshi Modi

Anushka Sharma is hanging out with the Young Monks, a local Aussie psychedelic pop band from Canberra, taking pictures on her phone. In a refreshing reversal of roles, she’s the fan here. “I’ve always wanted to be a vocalist in a band,” she tells me. And for a day, she gets to play the part, and she does it convincingly, as she’s done with every other part she’s picked over her decade-long career.

We’ve set up shop outside the capital city’s National Gallery of Australia, near Lake Burley Griffin, where we’re shooting against the backdrop of Within Without, a major skyspace by the American artist James Turrell. The exhibition is a viewing chamber that affects the way we view the sky, and you must enter the skyspace to contemplate the play of light and space. Turrell is an artist whose medium is light, and his work often demonstrates how we create and form our perceptions of the visible world. It seems almost serendipitous that we should shoot this cover here. If there is any actor in Bollywood who perceives things differently and carries her vision through, it’s Anushka Sharma.