Anya Singh, recently seen in the blockbuster horror-comedy Stree 2, made her Bollywood debut with YRF’s Qaidi Band. She has also appeared in notable projects, including Kho Gaye Hum Kahan on Netflix, the ZEE5 original Never Kiss Your Best Friend and Prime Video’s Jee Karda alongside Tamannaah.
In an interview with The Movie Mail, she shares her experience of working in the latest film alongside Aparshakti Khurana, Rajkummar Rao and others. She also speaks about her friendship with Tamannaah and sharing the screen space with her again after their stint in Jee Karda. Anya aspires to work with filmmakers like Zoya Akhtar, Shoojit Sircar and Sriram Raghavan. Excerpts:
Stree 2 has become a smashing hit at the box office earning almost Rs. 700 crores. Please share your thoughts on that.
That’s the number I never thought I would be registering myself with. I am very aware of the fact that it’s not MY film and I am really thankful to be a part of this. It is a mega blockbuster and to be a part of a movie that you have enjoyed watching and then to act in it, it’s a very different kind of feeling. It’s a very happy and satisfying feeling, not only as an actor but also as an audience of something you have enjoyed.
Alongside working with some of the great actors, you reunited with Tamannaah in Stree 2 after Jee Karda. Tell us about your camaraderie after sharing the screenspace again.
There’s definitely a large level of comfort that I have with Tamannaah because of Jee Karda. Whenever we hug, it’s the warmest hug and we are very non-filtered with our conversations. When I came here (Stree 2 set), I didn’t know anybody. They have already done Stree together, they have great sinc and they are friends with each other. They have their own inside jokes. So, when you come on the set for a few days it makes you think about how can you make the same connection. So the fact that Tamannaah was also there and I was going to see her for a day or two. It gave me a lot of comfort in just knowing that she will also be there.
And I always ask her lots of questions about what should I be doing on the work front. She’s had so much more experience than me and she very happily shares her wisdom with me. So, I had a lot of comfort knowing that Tamannaah was also a part of this.
Please share how you all managed to shoot the “Soft Chitti” scene on the set.
Everyone kept giggling and cracking up at the beginning of the “Soft Chitti” scene shoot. Thankfully the camera was not on me when Aparshakti (Khurana) Sir started singing. So I think it was tough for him to keep a straight face and sing that and all of us were just giggling on the side. There’s actually a story to this if I’m not wrong. They know someone who used to put his girlfriend to sleep by singing the “Soft Chitti” song.
Has your approach to selecting roles and scripts changed post-Stree 2?
No, I’m going to be very honest. I think my approach is quite simple. It should excite me or interest me or there has to be something about the project where I’m like, “Oh, this is something that I really look forward to.”
We’ve heard that Rajkumar Rao used to improvise on the set a lot. Do you also like to do the same while you are filming for something? Did you do it on the set of Stree 2?
The scene where Chitti comes running in and of course a lot of it was written, but there were parts of it where we improved. One of them is when she puts her hand on Apar Sir’s shoulder and he starts pressing her arm. Chitti was there in the film for a very limited period. So, I couldn’t do a lot of improvisations. But yes, I do love improv. During the shoot of Stree 2, I noticed that he (Rajkumar) does a lot of improvisation too and he is so good and quick.
How has working more on OTT shaped your career?
It provided a lot of us with the opportunity to perform the kind of characters that have been created with a little bit of risk because earlier OTT didn’t have pressure to make huge numbers. So I think, as writers, directors and producers, a lot of people started taking risks and creating content which was not particularly similar, such as Fore More Shots Please, Paatal Lok and Mirzapur. The worlds that were created in these web series have been quite different from each other. So, it allowed us to show our versatile performances and writing.
Would you like to be a part of shows like Gullak or Panchayat that are connected to the heartland of India?
Yes! Panchayat is such a heartwarming show. It is such a simple story. Sometimes, you feel like you need to add a lot to keep people’s interest. But when you sit down, you realise that the simpler things in life give you happiness and Panchayat is a story like that. You relate to the simple day-to-day things that the characters of the show go through and you relate to all of them. So, a hundred per cent, I would love to be a part of a heartland show. I feel I have been doing a lot of urban characters and I think people don’t see me as someone doing a small-town character. However, I think, Chitti was someone who made people see me in a different light.
Many aspiring actors feel they have made it when they crack an audition with YRF or Dharma. Your first movie Qaidi Band was a Yash Raj Production. While working on that film, did you also have the same feeling or were you still uncertain due to the unpredictability of the industry?
(Laughs) I thought I had made it. I mean you are young, you are entering a profession that you have no idea about and you have signed up with the biggest production house which is anyone’s dream. So you feel like what (bad) can happen now? But after that a lot of things happened and that was my true learning in everything because I realized that it’s all so temporary. The ups, the downs; anything can happen. So, I also learnt not to take the outcome of a project so seriously, because you don’t have much hands in it, nor can you do anything about it. But yes at that point, I really thought I had made it.
Your character, Lala, from Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is a social media influencer. Lately, we’ve heard that the number of followers an actor has on their official handles is highly important. Have you ever been asked about yours during an audition or even before that?
Yeah, and I think I always have to look away and very sheepishly answer this because I am no Lala in real life. There was a phase when I lost two projects and I was told it was solely because of my social media followings. They wanted someone with a larger following and it was not even an actor that they went with. They went with an influencer and it really hurt me. Because I have lost out on a project, not because of my craft or talent or the way I look. It’s because of something completely different.
Suddenly I needed to work entirely on a different platform and put all my energy and thought into that. So that I can work in the first profession that I chose. That hurt me, but, then I realized that this is all a part of the profession. I can’t do much about it and I feel like there was also a realization that maybe numbers don’t have much to do with the fate of a film or a series just because you cast a certain person.
An upcoming film named Vampires of Vijaynagar (now Thama starring Ayushmann Khurrana) is arriving in this supernatural universe. Are we going to see Chitti in that film?
I love that you have thought of this idea. Let’s manifest it and then maybe you will see Chitti everywhere. Maybe Chitti will be omnipresent in the horror universe (laughs). I don’t have any idea about that but I can always manifest. But I am sure that it will be a good addition to the horror universe that we have created.
Your favourite director that you wish to work with in future? Also, the filmmakers that you admire the most.
I really, really want to work with Zoya Akhtar, Shoojit Sircar and Sriram Raghavan. There are so many and every person brings something different to the table or has their own forte. Each one of them is so good at what they do that I would love to work with all of them but yes at the top of my head, I would love to work with the ones I named. Also, I feel like all my projects till now have given me a good amount of people that I’ve carried forward in my life but I had a lot of respect for my Jee Karda director.
Of course that does not mean I’ve not had respect for the other filmmakers I have worked with but the reason I am saying this about Aruneema Sharma is because she shot the show with us till she was eight months pregnant. I had so much admiration for her because during pregnancy you’re in discomfort and you’re going through your own changes. But even then she used to be fully present on a set. It’s not just the acting, she was overlooking a lot of things as a director. Often, she used to forget that she was pregnant and would climb on tables to show us what to do. She was just a blast to work with and it was a really nice show. I pray that we have season two of Jee Karda.
And like I said everyone brings something to the table you just have to kind of observe and recognize it. After Arunima, I had a lot of admiration for Arjun, who was my director for Kho Gaye Hum Kahan. He and his vision! If he wanted something, he used to get it. Yes, there was a lot of work we all put into building that ‘something’ that he wanted. But he was so sure of everything that it made life a lot easier for everybody around him.
Please let us know about the developments of Never Kiss Your Best Friend season 3 and your upcoming projects.
You should call Nakul (Mehta) and tell him. Let’s start a petition because, at this point, that’s the only way we can move this forward. It’s a show that I really, really enjoyed and it has consistently received so much love. Meanwhile, I look forward to doing a lot of challenging and satisfying roles as an artist. I really want to work in a thriller set in a darker space. That’s what I want to tap into now and kind of explore that a little bit.
