Birthday Girl Anushka Sharma’s Interview
“I think the time is gone when you had to look the same in film after film and play safe by clinging to your image”
ANUSHKA SHARMA tells JYOTHI VENKATESH
Today May 1 also happens to be the 32nd birthday of Anushka Sharma who was born on May 1, 1988. Anushka Sharma had made her debut as Tani with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi opposite Shah Rukh Khan, twelve years ago and followed it up with films like Badmaash Company with Shahid Kapoor as her leading man and her third film for Yashraj Films- Band Baaja Baaraat. Then followed Patiala House in which she played a Punjabi girl called Simran. It was directed by Manish Sharma, who was the associate director of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Akshay Kumar was her leading man in the film which also co-starred Dimple Kapadia. To mark her birthday, we wish Anushka Sharma Kohli a happy birthday and also reproduce this interview of Anushka taken twelve years ago, by JYOTHI VENKATESH on the eve of the release of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi .
Anushka confesses that when she met superstar Shah Rukh Khan for the first time on the sets of the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, there was lot of excitement, anxiety and nervousness, all bundled together. She adds, “I knew for a fact that I would be handled by the right people, like Adi and SRK. The first day of my shoot will always remain memorable as well as exciting as far as I am concerned because I was meeting Shah Rukh for the first time after I was finalized as the leading lady” .
Anushka confesses that she could not have ever imagined that she would be working with the likes of Adi and Shah Rukh one day. “There could not have been a better dream than this. And also I think my habit of not expecting too much really worked. It feels amazing. Shah Rukh is such a fantastic actor. He makes the romantic scene look so normal, so natural, so different each time. Actually many a times I used to feel a bit shy but at the end he made comfortable”.
Needless to mention, Anushka says that she had braced herself to the comparisons being drawn between Deepika Padukone and her even when she was working with Shah Rukh in the film but is quite cool about it. “I find it quite silly because I just don’t understand the comparisons. I think it’s unfair to compare a debutante like me to somebody who’s already done three movies. It’s not fair on the work credibility. I know the fact me and Deepika share quite a lot of common things as we hail from same place Bengaluru, both are from modeling background, both debuted opposite Shah Rukh etc”.
”My father serves in the Indian army and actually encouraged me a lot when I expressed to him my desire to take up modeling when I was just 15”, recollects Anushka. “Initially I felt that I should shift my base from Bengaluru to Mumbai because I’d get better opportunities to pursue modeling as my career. Though I really did not aspire to take up acting as a career seriously when I was pursuing ramp modeling in Bangalore, the acting bug has now bitten me and I want to continue acting because I am now in love with acting”.
Anushka says that she was committed to working for three different films – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Pucca Badmaash and now Band Baaja Baaraat with Yashraj Films. “I am game for any kind of role which consists of good script and is backed by a good director. Though I have played the role of a house-wife in my first film, I was very keen on playing glamorous roles in other films. I want to essay all kinds of roles and prove my versatility as an actress. I am glad that I have been accepted by the audience and my performance also has been applauded. I could not have asked more from Rab up there!”
Anushka feels that it is very unfair that the image of every actor stems from the last film that they have done. “It would be nice if people do not have preconceived notions about the actresses and slot them with particular images based on what they see them in a film. All said and done, I do not blame people because that’s the way things work in Bollywood and you just cannot help it”.
Anushka admits that she has grown since Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi as an actress. “I confess that I was a newcomer when Adi directed me in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and had no knowledge about what I was doing on the sets. As newcomers, I think we tend to bring something new to the film. Every director is a good actor. I could make out that even Adi is a good actor when he used to read out a scene to me on the sets when I was shooting for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. I have grown a lot through just one film- Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi which has taken a lot out of me and made me what I am. I’d always be indebted to Adi for having made me an actress out of a model”.
After working in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Badmaash Company and Band Baaja Baaraat, Anushka says that she has learnt a lot. “You learn every day from each film. While Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was shot only in Mumbai, I shot for Badmaash Company all over the globe. I now know that if you develop technical skill along with knowledge of acting, it is great. Probably I knew 0.02% about technical skills when I did Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Now I’d say that I know 2%. I have now realized that everyone is not what you are and learnt to deal with different people. I also realized that everyone has a different temperament though many people come together to make a film. I did not at all think like this earlier”.
When asked about her approach as an actress, Anushka does not pause to ponder even for a minute. She shoots back, “I want every film of mine to be different from one another because I feel that otherwise it would become too monotonous for an actor to essay similar roles. The beauty of acting is that you have so many characteristics within you as an actor and hence I’d not say that it was not at all difficult for me to do a different role in Badmaash Company or for that matter Band Baaja Baraat. I think the time is gone when you had to look the same in film after film and play safe by clinging to your image. I am choosing different scripts now”.
If reports in the media are to be believed, Anushka has dumped Shahid Kapoor for Ranveer. Tell her this and she retorts, “I think it is very cheap to link actors. I was linked with Shahid Kapoor when the film Badmaash Company though we are just good buddies. I was also linked with Ranveer who is my co-star in Band Baaja Baaraat. The truth is that I do not have any boy friend, because though it may sound very clichéd, the fact is that I want to concentrate on my career”.
Who is your favorite leading man, out of the films in which you have acted till date? I ask her. Anushka hesitates to answer. “I feel that it is unfair to ask me who I feel is my co-star since I have done only four films all my life. I can say that Shah Rukh Khan who was my first ever co-star will always remain the most special co-actor of mine all my life. He is an incredible co-actor and you can keep on listening to him the whole day, without getting tired at all. However, if you ask me whether I was on a back- slapping terms with him as a buddy, I’d say that I was not, because unlike Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer who are closer to my age, Shah Rukh Khan is older and hence I cannot be a buddy as far as Shah Rukh Khan is concerned”.
