The Darling Debutante

Meet the gorgeous star kid Anushka Ranjan who talks to Youth Inc about her foray in films and her passion for a cause.

RAPID FIRE
Five things that you ALWAYS carry in your handbag
Lip balm, cell phone, sanitizer, wallet, and a rubber band.

Directors/actors you’d love to work with
Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Om Prakash Mehra

If you were to describe the Bollywood industry in a phrase, what would it be?
Wonderland

Your role model, in the industry or otherwise?
Tabu

One of the quirkiest/weirdest compliment you have ever received
“You’re such a chilled bro. Be a bro for life”

What inspired you to quit your modelling career to focus on films?
Modelling was something I was doing on the side while I was trying to get into movies. Films were something I always wanted to do. As everyone knows, it is not always easy to get a break in a movie, and that makes you a little frustrated as well. I didn’t want to go through that process. Luckily I had the advantage of a good height, so I could give modelling a shot. Touchwood, I did pretty well there and I have been walking the ramp for quite a while. And when the film happened, I gladly took the first step forward.

Hailing from a family with a background in cinema, did you ever feel pressurized to get into movies?
I wouldn’t know better, because when you see your parents doing something, that is what you believe you are supposed to be headed, but once I grew up, I did want to get into the profession. I have always wanted to do something through which I will be remembered, because I feel I have the potential and I am very passionate about a lot of things. For example, we have an NGO called ‘Beti’ and when we have to get attention, we have to approach actors. Only then will the aam janta then take notice. It’s very sad and I was upset about it. Working as well as being someone is very important to me. I am not one of those women who was asked to grow up andmarry a rich guy. Like, my dad said he doesn’t want to talk about my marriage till I am 30 or 31, and then will he discuss it with me. Till then you make a mark, earn your money and get the hell out of my house.
That’s the kind of thought I have been brought up with. I have been the boy of the house. So all these things really matter a lot to me. Which is why associating with an NGO is important to me because I won’t have to go outside and beg. It was something I always wanted to do and be somebody. I am giving it a try, so I hope it works out for me.

What was it like working with the acting greats such as Rishi Kapoor and Satish Kaushik among other legendary actors?
You get to learn a lot from them. Rishi ji is a very patient person and doesn’t lose his temper. A lot of people start losing their temper on set because of a hundred reasons-heat, tiredness, food and so many more. Even when it was boiling hot when we were shooting and he was wearing a suit and everything, he never lost his temper at me because I was fumbling with my words a lot. He was running some lines with me and I realised a sort of professionalism was also there. Just because you are a Rishi Kapoor, it wasn’t like Yeah I will do my thing let her do hers. He cared enough to run lines with me. Satish ji is very close to my heart and my family. He is a very close friend of my dad’s and he has been one person who has always told my dad that you have a star in your house and why are you not doing anything about it? And it was very sweet because when I didn’t have that much confidence in me, my parens and Satish sir had it. It was great to work with him, he was so funny and chilled out. That’s when I realized that on set you have to be fun and chilled out and happy. Spread that vibration around the set. So many people are stressed and that one joke can lighten up the place and be good enough.

How great is your chemistry with your co-actor Diganth? Did you guys gel well off set as well as you did on screen?
We are like a house on fire! We are on the same wavelength. Humour is vey much alike. I have a very raw sense of humour, very shrewd also at times. You kinda need to get me and he luckily did. So, it made my life so much easier. I could be myself around him. He became a really good buddy of mine. If I had any issues with my scene, he’d sit with me and help me out. People would say we are like 7-year-old brother and sister, arguing and fighting with each other, but you still love each other. It was that kind of relationship. I guess that is why our chemistry was looking so beautiful on screen. It was genuine friendship and we improvised a lot of our scenes. You can’t show best friends unless you like the person. Love you can still fake but friendship has to be very impromptu because dialogues are together.

What was it like working with one of the industry’s well known cinematographer Binod Pradhan?
He has an amazing sense of humour. He was so chilled out and accommodating. If we had a problem with anything, for example, if I didn’t like an angle of mine, he would change the whole set up for me. Because at the end of the day, he said, my performance mattered more than where the camera was placed. If I tell him I am not getting my lines right, and that I can do better if I take a break and come back, he’d agree and advise not to change the camera set up.  We wasted a little time here and there and he still wrapped up before time.

What advice would you give our readers, some of them who are aspiring actors themselves?
Calm down. The simplest thing that I can tell anyone. I needed to calm down myself. There’s no place for over enthusiasm. Get your work right. That’s the one thing I would love to say. Don’t think that if you have extra knowledge of everything, you can go around preaching it. Keep your info to yourself. Work hard. Be sincere and don’t take everything to heart. If you can’t stay with the struggling period, you will never make it as an actor. So many people are going to abuse you. If you can’t take rejection from one casting person or director, remember there is a whole world out there to abuse you now.

 

Volume 5 Issue 4