Girl UNINTERRUPTED

ANANYA PANDAY has come into her own. She gives us her take on female friendships, movies, and how she deals with the scrutiny that comes from being a woman in the public's eye, in a freewheeling chat with Karen Alfonso

- Karen Alfonso

There’s a scene in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan in which Ananya Panday’s character, Ahana, is dressed for revenge. To attend a friend’s wedding where her ex-boyfriend will be present, she picks a slinky red sari (yes, it was dubbed the new revenge dress by Instagram pop culture mover Diet Sabya), determined to win her flame back and show him exactly what he was missing. The scene resonated with so many Gen Z and millennial women that there was an outpouring of shared experiences on Instagram. Ananya’s portrayal of Ahana was a powerfully-nuanced performance; and undoubtedly the best we’ve seen from her. In another pivotal scene where she confronts her ex, we see a range of emotions from Ananya where she goes from anger, disbelief to, finally, self-realisation. On display was pure talent. The girl has got it.

We get a glimpse of this star power on the day of the shoot, when she lights up in front of the camera. As we sit down for a chat, she’s refreshingly candid and, in a rarity with celebrity interviews, she doesn’t pre-screen the questions.

It’s hard to believe that it has only been a few years since Ananya burst upon Bollywood with her debut in the Dharma-backed 2019 film Student Of The Year 2 (SOTY 2). She was still a teenager, and there was immense pressure on her; she is, after all, the daughter of the Chunky Panday. That edition of SOTY gave the industry three stars – Ananya, Tara Sutaria and Tiger Shroff – whose careers have since gone from strength to strength. The critics, however, thought Ananya had more to give. Next came