I'm in the best film school possible

ACTOR ANANYA PANDAY was the guest of honour at THE WEEK’s first-ever Salon, an exclusive, closeddoor event that invites thought leaders, artistes, ideators and newsmakers to have an intimate and intelligent chat with our senior editors.

- RIYAD MATHEW AND NAMRATA ZAKARIA

In the audience were some of our special guests, longtime subscribers and persons of interest. The first Salon was co-hosted by THE WEEK’s chief associate editor and director Riyad Mathew and senior journalist Namrata Zakaria.

This edition of Salon took place at the stylish Four Seasons hotel, Mumbai, and was sponsored by South Indian Bank, with Enso Group as special partners.

Ananya Panday is a talented young actor with much critical acclaim to her credit. Some of her upcoming work is a series on Amazon Prime called Call Me Bae, and films such as Vikramaditya Motwane’s Control and Shankara, opposite Akshay Kumar. She endorses as many as 22 leading brands.

Panday delighted the audience with her candour, warmth and repartee. Excerpts from the interview:

Q/ Congratulations on Kho Gaye Hum Kahan. Such a lovely, lovely film. And such a nuanced role for you, followed by so much praise and acclaim. Do you feel you have finally landed as an actor?

A/ Honestly, I feel like everything happens at the right time. And I feel like I wouldn’t be the person or the actor that I am today if it wasn’t for everything that happened to me before that. So, I am obviously very, very grateful for all of the love that I got in the film. My favourite kind of movies are the ones where I feel seen and understood. Like when I was younger, I used to feel like Poo and Geet; they were like my spirit animals. I wanted to be as confident as them. So, if I can do anything that touches the life of a young boy or a young girl, then that’s like the job done for me. And I got so many messages from people after that film saying they feel represented. So that’s my biggest win more than anything. And yeah, I feel like people see me in a different way, which is always good.

Q/ Is Ahana, your character in the film, close to who you are as a person? I mean, you pretty much live a fishbowl existence.