Ananya Sengupta didn’t have the kind of start she had hoped for in the industry but now, with multiple projects slated to release in the next couple of months, things are finally looking up for the actress. In this interview, the actress talks about her journey in the entertainment industry, the challenges involved in doing multi-lingual films, upcoming projects, dream role and more.
One of your upcoming projects is the web-series ‘High Dose’ in which you play the character of Revati. What can you tell us about it?
‘High Dose’ can either be described as a series or an anthology film as it features four standalone stories. I am playing the lead in one of the films. Revati, the character I play, has had a troubled past because of her parent’s divorce. She is grappling with drug addiction and a lot of other issues. It was quite a challenging part. In the film, I have been paired opposite National Award winning actor Upendra Limaye who has done a lot of great work in Marathi cinema.
You will also be seen in a Telugu film titled ‘Madrasi Gang’ that is also being made in Tamil and Hindi. Is it difficult to work in a film in which you have to speak in a language you are not familiar with?
It is very difficult to speak in different languages. I have always been amazed to see actresses Taapsee Pannu, Kriti Sanon, Tamannaah and Kaajal Agrawal working across different industries with such ease. Picking up Telugu and Tamil is very difficult. When I was shooting for the film, there was a prompter on the set but your work gets doubled. I have got offers from the Punjabi and Marathi film industry but I have not done films in these languages as I don’t have a good command over them yet. These industries don’t like to dub the voices of their actors. They want actors who have learnt the language and can speak it well. Down south, they give you a lot of liberty. I am looking forward to do a lot more projects in South.
In an interview, you had that stated that given a choice, you would have never started your career in horror films. Why did you say that?
I made my acting debut with a film called ‘The Final Exit’ which was in the horror space. Horror has still not been accepted in a huge way in India. Back in the day, some good horror films like ‘Raaz’ were made but in the last decade or so, this genre has not been explored properly. Ideally, I would have liked to start my career with a romantic film or a comedy.
Your journey in the entertainment industry started with you appearing in a Coca Cola commercial. How did you get interested in acting?
I was always interested in acting and had done a lot of theatre. Initially, I had thought of getting into the industry as a model but things didn’t work out in my favour. A lot of people told me that I don’t look like a model. Still, I got to do a bunch of commercials for brands like Lakme, Amul, Panasonic, Videocon etc and that was a good experience. Slowly, I started getting acting offers and that’s how my journey as an actress begun.
Is there a dream role you have in mind?
I would love to be a part of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. The way he presents is actresses is incredible.