Mumbai: Five years back she made a sensational debut with the biographical drama Dangal. However, now only actor Sanya Malhotra says she has finally found her footing in the film industry. This is because she feels more ‘comfortable’ with her craft. Sanya Malhotra portrayed the role of wrestler Babita Kumari in the Aamir Khan-led movie brilliantly. It opened the doors for the Delhi-born actor, who later took up diverse projects such as Vishal Bhardwaj’s Pataakha, National Award-winning movie Badhaai Ho and Photograph.
“I’m much more comfortable and confident in myself now. After five years. I can say that (because) for a few years at the beginning I was quite confused. I’d think ‘What is happening? How do I do this?’. But now I am much more comfortable being myself. That’s a great journey,” Sanya said Tuesday.
The 29-year-old actor has been having a golden run with critical hits like Shakuntala Devi and Anurag Basu’s comedy Ludo. In 2021, Sanya earned praise for headlining the Netflix film, Pagglait.
“I’m confident with the kind of films that I’m doing, the kind of characters that I’m playing and whatever is happening in my professional life. I’m quite happy. It is a nice comfort zone that I have achieved. I hope I am able to sustain it,” Sanya said.
The actor returns to streamer Netflix with her latest, Meenakshi Sundareshwar, co-starring Abhimanyu Dassani.
In the Karan Johar-backed romantic comedy, Sanya plays one half of the titular character. She said she was instantly drawn to the project because as an audience she was craving to watch a love story.
In Meenakshi, an independent, feisty girl from Madurai, the actor saw an opportunity to perform and lead a relatable romantic film. “It was love at first sight for me. When I first heard the script, I could relate to it. It is a universal and a very relatable story. The character also spoke to me on a lot of levels,” Sanya said.
“And the fact that as an audience, I was craving to watch a simple love story, that was also something that I got attracted to the character and the script,” she added.
Helmed by debutant director Vivek Soni, the film follows the journey of a young couple, ‘Meenakshi’ and ‘Sundareshwar’. They are in a long distance marriage. Sanya described her character ‘Meenakshi’ as someone who is confident and knows what she wants.
“I love the fact that she loves Sundar for the way he is. She doesn’t want him to change. They are two opposite people, who are ready to grow together and don’t want both of them to change even a bit for each other,” Sanya pointed out.
Sanya also talked about the Rajinikath dialogue she did in the film. I did a lot of homework for the dialogue. It wasn’t on my mind that I don’t want to offend anyone, I simply wanted to perform it well,” Sanya signed off.