IN Her Hot GIRL Era

Ananya Panday is unbothered, moisturised, happy, in her lane, focused and thriving

- PRATIKSHA ACHARYA

Unlike what most people think, Ananya Panday's success with her projects in recent years can be attributed to her being at the right place at the right time. She asserts the same as we sit and chat post-shoot in a dingy room surrounded by glorious wooden furniture. There's a slight nip in the air, deeply characteristic of the five-day-long Mumbai winter, and outside the window, with the sun's rays slanting through, the city is just waking up from its slumber. The early morning call time is, of course, to get that lazy morning sun through the Gothic arches of the David Sassoon Library and Reading Room.

It's apt that our December cover is being shot with a through and through Bombay girl in a Bombay institution, no less. “I have always been a Bandra girl, and my best memories of the city are of chilling on Carter Road after school with my friends; that was the only place where girls and boys could hang out together. That feeling of being around your first crush and going on momo and shawarma dates is a peak Bombay memory,” Panday reminisces. From Carter Road dates to buying her own apartment in the city, Panday has surely ticked off the most important investment for a zillennial (the sweet spot between millennials and Gen Z) from her checklist. At 26, the thought of adulting doesn't seem as daunting to her.

Despite having been in the industry for only five years, Ananya has put her big girl pants on, and 2024 has undoubtedly been a rewarding year so far. While it has taken some of her peers years to build their brand, Panday has successfully created inroads into what has gradually made her one of the most bankable stars from the younger generation in a cutthroat industry.