‘I DON’T FEEL LIKE A VICTIM’
Anushka Sharma had no way of knowing that being present to support her beau, Virat Kohli, during the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup, would trigger a backlash against her when Team India lost the match. When Team India was ousted from the tourney, no one was blamed more than Anushka, a mere onlooker. And yet, the actress didn’t let the negativity faze her. She is back in the news — this time for glimpses of her stellar
perfor- mances in Bombay Velvet and Dil Dhadakne Do, as seen through the recently released songs and trailer of the films, respectively.
Telling us what helped her deal with the negativity and move ahead, Anushka refers to a conversation she had with the legendary actress Waheeda Rehman: “Waheedaji said, ‘ Sadak pe aap jaa rahe hote ho, toh ek accident hota hai. Log jaake khade hote hai aur kehte hai dekho accident ho gaya (if you’re on the road and there is an accident, people stand there and exclaim about it)… But if someone is playing with his children, or two people are holding hands, nobody will stop and see that. Her words put everything in perspective for me. I also feel that way but I wasn’t able to articulate it. That’s the way I look at life and why I don’t get affected. I don’t think anybody must have faced the negativity that I have, over the past couple of years. But the fact that I have been able to stay the same and not get affected, not lose my cool, not get angry, and continue to do good work — it’s because I believe in this. You can understand the bigger picture and focus on what’s important. With me, in the same period where I had to go through all this, I have also evolved into a better actor, become a producer.” Speaking of evolving as an actor, in Bombay Velvet Anushka plays a performer from the Jazz Age of the Mumbai of the ’60s. Incidentally, her role in Dil Dhadakne Do is that of a per- former as well. “In Bombay Velvet, the kind of performer I am, is different. You’ve got to understand the music. It’s not about her physical appearance. It’s about emotions and that’s the performance you will see in the film. In Dil Dhadakne Do, she is a dancer,” says Anushka.
Anushka had become the subject of several jokes after she confessed to undergoing temporary lip enhancement for her role in Bombay Velvet. Of course, rare is the A-league actress who’d dare to make such a confession. And yet, Anushka paid the price for her honesty. She explains, “Negativity and tough times make you realise your strength. I could have fallen down and felt like a victim. I feel that it has made me even more uncaring of what people have to say. It’s a great feeling… Actors get trapped when they start getting so concerned about everything. Today you can say anything and it doesn’t affect me. That’s how I have become and in the process, I take braver decisions. I have confidence because of everything that has happened in my life.”
The actress adds that it is a chance to do good cinema that drives her. “If you are doing some work, it has to be the best thing you could do. Otherwise what’s the point? The appreciation I get through my work is the most important for me. But I understand that along with being with an actor you have this parallel thing that also goes on... I just don’t pay attention to it because it is not part of my life.”