Here’s why Sanya is stressed about attending Berlin Film Festival
It’s double joy for Sanya Malhotra. The actor’s upcoming film is not just being screened at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival but she has also been featured in the Berlinale Breakouts as one of five talents to look out for by The Hollywood Reporter. Sanya’s initial reaction to making it to the list was not that of exhilaration, rather she was quite unfazed by it. The reason — she didn’t realise that it was a big deal.
“I didn’t know how to react. I was travelling and when I
landed in Mumbai I got a WhatsApp message from Radhika (Madan; actor). She sent me a cut out of the article. I thought, ‘nice’. I didn’t know that it’s a very big deal. My mother was so excited about it and others started congratulating me. It was then that I realised that it is very important,” she says.
Photograph, directed by Ritesh Batra, will be screened on February 13 at Berlinale, in Berlin, and it had its world premiere at the recentlyconcluded Sundance Film Festival, in USA.
“When I am appreciated like this, it obviously feels great. After that [list] came out, I am now feeling very stressed about attending the festival,” says Sanya with a laugh.
The actor calls the project, which also stars actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, very close to her heart and says that she is looking forward to seeing audiences’ reaction at the film festival.
So, besides attending the film festival, what else is she looking forward to do in the German capital?
“I want to see the Berlin Wall. But I will only be there for two days as I have to come back and start shooting for my next film (an Anurag Basu directorial). Hopefully, I will get some time to go around and see some places. If not, I will definitely go back some time. For now, my film is my priority there,” she says.