A new resolve

Bollywood buzz

I apologise for the five-minute delay in meeting her and she counters, “No issues, sir. Please do remember that such things happen even with us.” That’s Anushka Sharma for you — upfront about everything. When we start the interview, she wants me to check if my phone is definitely in recording mode. Intense, honest and warm — she has not changed even a bit as a person in the last eight years.

She has just delivered the biggest hit of her career, Sultan — opposite Salman Khan — in which she played a wrestler from Haryana. “Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) called me when I was shooting for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in London, and simply asked, ‘You want to do Sultan?’ I didn’t know anything about the film, and the same night writer-director Ali Zafar called and narrated the story to me. It was only after I accepted the film that I got to know about so many names being floated around for my role.”

Honestly speaking...
Anushka feels a sense of triumph in the fact that she measured up to everyone’s expectations, including her own. “I was at a disadvantage because like all of us, I had a certain perception about wrestlers being big-framed, huge people! All that was actually needed was a toned body, as there were weight categories in wrestling.”

In many ways, Arfa (her character) was her most challenging role to date. “In a contact sport, you have to get used to things like your head being inside someone’s armpits, or someone’s head can be on your waist. I trained with the best coaches but did not let go of my inhibitions until I watched videos of other female wrestlers. Then I decided that I had to go at it wholeheartedly. That’s when my trainer said, ‘You have now started learning!’ And after a day-long training, I had to also practice my Haryanvi in the evenings.”

Sultan also makes her the first leading lady of her generation to have worked with all the three Khans. How was the experience working with each of them — with Aamir in PK and Shah Rukh in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Jab Tak Hai Jaan — they will also be seen in Imtiaz Ali’s next?

“With Salman, what you see is what you get,” she says candidly. “It is so refreshing and relieving that you know he’s saying what he thinks. I have seen how nice he is with so many people, known and unknown. He sits with his fans, talks to them and takes pictures with so much patience. And I realised then that he feels grateful for what he has achieved, and so he reciprocates by giving respect to his fans. His reactions are never premeditated, and that’s unique for such a huge star. At the same time, he doesn’t mince words when he talks to people, which, according to me, is a great quality because I am like that.”

About Aamir, she says, “He is an intelligent man, who is good at reaching out to people and communicating with them. He plans everything and is good at marketing.” Shah Rukh, she feels, is a mix of the two and someone who will make you feel comfortable with what she calls his “mesmerising presence”. “He is so intelligent and such a good conversationalist that you feel like just listening to him,” she says. “Yet, he can see through people who are not genuine.”

Coming up for Anushka is Ae Dil Hai Mushkil with Ranbir Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (for Diwali) and her second home production, Phillauri, in March 2017. How does she choose her films as an actor? And has NH10, her debut as producer, changed her criteria? “I think it’s personal how you want your career to be after almost eight years,” she candidly replies. “I have always chosen roles, films and characters that have been hopefully impactful and been representative of independent and strong women of today. Now that’s been a conscious effort. I do films because I love acting — that is the only thing I enjoy.”

Anushka looks at fame and money as a by-product of this passion. “They are alright, but the most important aspect is my growth as a person,” she declares. “Like Arfa is strong, self-assured, ambitious, strong-headed, focused and from the interiors of India. I too am a lot like her, I don’t tell people what I want to achieve, but just go and do it. Like her father, my father too is a strong person, and has always taught me to speak up.”

A poised producer
NH10 was a gratifying experience, she says, with all the accolades pouring in. “There were people in the audience who were so involved that they said out loud to my character, ‘Don’t get out of the car!’ because they knew it would be dangerous. I think that acting should be that real that you involve the audience — you have to transform yourself into the character.”

Her next production is a challenge as well. “Phillauri is a comedy and that is difficult, as it is all about timing.”

What was her experience like working with Diljit Dosanhj, the Salman Khan of Punjabi films, in Phillauri? “Diljit is so funny and bubbly on screen. But in real life, he is quiet and barely speaks. But despite his huge stardom, he’s so honest. In fact, he told me, ‘I am not an actor. I am a singer who acts.’ I think that’s why he comes across as so honest.”
Her candid nature makes Anushka the right person to comment on censorship hiccups that she also faced during NH10 last year, and which are a recurrent issue today. “I think that creativity is not a mechanical job. We should be allowed to present reality within reasonable limits. In NH10, they told us to reduce the hair pulling by 20%. Now that was ridiculous. But we did not let the film get diluted. We went to the higher committee even if it meant pushing the film forward by a week.”

Would she want to taste international stardom too like Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone? With the air of an actor who was expecting that question at some point, she gives a knowing smile and replies, “It will be cool if it happens. I am proud of them, and Priyanka’s really achieved so much. But I will take things as they come. Arey, I have not even planned to be a star here!”