CAN HOLD HER OWN PRATIBHA RANTA

The Laapataa Ladies star opens up about chasing her dreams, keeping it real, and why honesty—in acting and dating—is the best policy.

- Interview: Ananya Rai Stylist: Ustat Kharbanda Photographer: Sheldon Santos

At 24, Pratibha Ranta has already won an IIFA, worked with Kiran Rao and Sanjay Leela Bhansali—directors most actors would sell their souls to even be around—and has 1.2 million followers on Instagram. Oh, and she also has two adorable cats (at this point, you could just say I’m jealous).

So, when I was told I'd be interviewing her, I was a little unnerved. After all, I am a year older and spiralling in the very specific way that only 25-year-olds do—when they think it’s over for them because they're 25 (and hence, ancient), but everyone else their age is basically an infant.

However, my misgivings were soon mollified as my phone pinged with a WhatsApp voice note—Pratibha’s first answer. Two answers in, and I learnt that she is also extremely grounded and grateful—her trademark, if I may. The actor attributes it to her small-town upbringing in the district of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. “I feel blessed to say that I’m from there,” she trails off. “Whenever I can, I go back home to spend time in nature and with my family. It’s really refreshing and instantly makes me feel motivated. There's this voice inside me that screams, “There’s so much more to achieve’.”

Back in her home town, everyone knows she’s a star, but they're not making a big deal out of it—they’ve seen this before. Preity Zinta, Pratibha’s idol, made it big, so they had no doubt she would too. When she bagged her debut television role in Qurbaan Hua (2020), the entire village was beaming. “They always knew I wanted to be an actor, and now that they see my dreams coming true, they feel really happy for me,” she reminisces.