‘I’m growing up’

PTI

Nothing works like good work, says Ananya Panday who wants her film choices to reflect the evolution she has had as an actress. The actress, who debuted with Karan Johar’s production Student of the Year 2, earned critical acclaim for her performance in Shakun Batra-directed Gehraiyaan from the same banner.

While fans noticed a shift in her choices post Gehraiyaan, Panday called it a ‘natural progression’, whether it is her latest film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan from Zoya Akhtar’s banner or her upcoming cyber thriller Control by Vikramaditya Motwane.

“I’ve always wanted people to take me seriously as an actress. It’s not that it (choices) changed after Gehraiyaan. I’m in my 20s, I’m growing up and there are different things that I’m relating to. There are different kinds of stories I want to do. It’s simultaneous with my growth as a person. My choices are also changing. It’s a ripple effect,” the actress, 25, said.

“I’m not making any conscious decisions. I’ve my wish-list and I’m secretly manifesting who I want to work with but nothing works like good work. I’m trying to focus on that,” Panday added.

Ananya said she is grateful that filmmakers like Batra, Akhtar and Motwane ‘believed that if I could work with them, I could back a film for them’. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is set to stream on Netflix from December 26 and also stars Siddhant Chaturvedi, Adarsh Gourav and Kalki Koechlin. The coming-of-digital-age drama revolves around three best friends as they navigate life while striving to balance their online identities with their true selves.

Panday hopes the movie resonates with people of her age. “I found it very relatable and I felt if I can find it relatable, then there are so many people out there, who will. There are films that define every generation. I feel like being a part, hopefully, of something that people will look back years later and be like, ‘Oh, that’s ahead of time or that spoke of our generation and we related to it’,” she said. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is directed by debutant director Arjun Varain Singh.

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