Old-School, New Ideas
Actor Chunky Panday and his daughter, actor Ananya Panday, help each other in life and on social media
“Iwanted her to be the quintessential heroine of masala movies,” says Chunky Panday, 59. “But she keeps telling me it is all about showcasing one’s talent!” 23-year-old Ananya protests. “It’s been just three years since I entered the industry. I don’t want to limit myself. I want to try everything!”
Father and daughter stare at each other in mock disappointment. Then they laugh hysterically.
Signs of the future
Chunky can’t be blamed for hoping Ananya will do masala films. Even Ananya concedes that as a toddler, child and teen, she was all about the movies.
“She would start performing at the drop of a hat. Very early on, she was showing all the signs of becoming a heroine,” laughs Chunky.
“I was obsessed with movies and still am!” Ananya agrees.
A life less ordinary
As the daughter of a Hindi film hero, Ananya’s life was, and is, different from ours. For example, there is no explaining the trauma that a seven-year-old child feels when a person being killed on-screen is her father. “That movie [D, 2005] scarred me for life,” she says.
For those of us born without the benefit of film star parents, Ananya’s life seems the epitome of privilege. This explains why she was thrown right in the middle of the nepotism debate.
Ananya reacted to trolls by launching So Positive, an initiative to spread awareness about cyberbullying. But it was her ability to laugh at herself, which she has inherited from her dad, that kept her going.
“Being able to laugh at yourself is the only way to deal with things,” says Chunky. “There is no denying that there are people who are not as privileged as Ananya. But if those people need to achieve 10, she, because she has that head start, needs to achieve 100.”
Dad’s the word
There are a few advantages to having a dad in the industry, says Ananya.
“He has had ups and downs in his career and growing up around that, seeing how he coped, never letting the smile on his face fade, has equipped me for this volatile industry,” she explains.
Already to the generation that is her audience, Chunky is known as Ananya Panday’s father. How does that feel?
“It is the best feeling ever!” says Chunky.
DAD’S CAREER WITH ITS UPS AND DOWNS, WITH HIM NEVER LETTING HIS SMILE FADE, EQUIPPED ME FOR THIS VOLATILE INDUSTRY”
ANANYA PANDAY, Actor