Watch: ‘Gehraiyaan’ star Ananya Panday talks love, infidelity and life

Bollywood actress Ananya Panday is a diehard romantic who believes in happily-ever-after endings and true love, but her latest relationship drama ‘Gehraiyaan’ is a lot more complex and layered.

“I’m a Dharma girl in real life. I am like all full of love. And I’m all for just finding that soul mate and everything,” said Panday in an interview with Gulf News.

The actress and daughter of actor Chunky Panday and Bhavna Panday, who made her debut with ‘Student of the Year’, was referring to Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, which is known for their feel-good, sanitised romances with gorgeous lead actors and utopian locations.

But ‘Gehraiyaan’, a tempestuous story of two couples in love that releases on Amazon Prime Video on February 11, is a lot messier.

Actors Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Dhairya Karwa and Panday form the quartet in this film. Padukone and Panday play cousins Alisha and Tia who get together on a holiday in Goa with their respective partners, but their spirits are dampened when Alisha and Tia’s fiance harbour a forbidden attraction and act on their impulses. The trailer reveals how these couples whose future is intertwined navigate those treacherous relationship potholes.

So what’s Panday’s take on infidelity?

“I speak for myself here, but I don’t think I would be OK with it. But I don’t think I would judge someone who’s okay with it either. Relationships have become extremely fluid and it’s up to the two people in a relationship to define what their boundaries are,” said Panday in a Zoom video call.

Directed by Shakun Batra of ‘Kapoor & Sons’ fame, the intimate film seems to dive deep into the intricacies of modern-day dating and relationships.

“I am really blessed to be able to work with Shakun in just my fourth film of my career. He’s one of the best directors in our country,” said Panday, who believes that better roles are being written for women.

Apparently, this film made her grow up rapidly and gave her a more acute understanding of how relationships can evolve.

“Just being a part of something so complex and complicated, and realising that there isn’t just black and white in life, you know? The fun is in the grey. So I’ve definitely matured with this film,” said Panday.

Excerpts from our chat with Panday:

 ‘Gehraiyaan’ does not come across as a conventional Bollywood love story of a star-crossed couple …

A: At several points it crosses that line and I don’t think you could call ‘Gehraiyaan’ a conventional love story because it goes out of the bounds of a conventional relationship. In our Hindi film industry, we have seen films about finding your soul mate after marriage, but ‘Gehraiyaan’ is not about that. It’s a film which does not judge and never takes a judgemental tone on a relationship. It’s not looking a relationship with rose-tinted glasses either. It’s merely observing a situation between four people and how they react making it a complex modern relationship drama. But you I don’t think you could say it’s a love story.

The trailer indicates that you play the young woman who’s cheated on and is unaware that her partner is with another woman … The sympathy factor is likely to on you. Is that what drew you to the project or was it the superb cast and crew behind it?

It’s a mix of both. Even before I knew what the story was, I wanted to work with my dream director Shakun and Deepika. Just like how you were sold by the trailer, I was sold by what Shakun was going to create. I was going to do this film because I wanted that opportunity to work and learn from him. The complexities of all the characters in this film drew me to it. You will see various sides of my character here and we are all humane. The movie shows how our characters can have a light side, dark side and we all have an ugly and a beautiful side. It’s reassuring and refreshing to watch a character on screen who’s relatable.

Bollywood folklore has it that director Shakun Batra is an exacting genius and you guys had to give 100 takes for a scene?

Maybe like 70 takes! But I take it as a compliment for an actor if your director believes in you so much that he pushes you to go further, deeper and better. He knows in his gut that you can do a scene different. There’s this misconception that many number of takes mean that you are doing a good job. It just means that you can do something differently. You need to stop looking at it like retakes are something bad … The thing with Shakun is that he’s not coming from a confused space. He’s coming from an exploration zone where he wants to try something different. He wants to see how far you can go and that’s what makes it reassuring. I was ready for it all.

The trailer indicates that Deepika plays your cousin who seem to be surprised at how well you have done in your life … She seems to be harbouring this sense of superiority over you?

When you watch the film, you may think it’s not coming from a place of superiority and Alisha’s [Padukone] coming from a place of insecurity. It’s up to the audience to decide after watching the whole film. We have not judged anyone. There’s no villain and there’s no hero here. There’s no right and wrong either. What you feel about this film after watching it will tell you something about yourselves as well. I was so excited and fascinated that such complex female character were coexisting with male character and that’s how humans exist in the real world.

So you don’t think this film will go into the space where one woman is pitted against the other and they are just catty …I

It’s the opposite. I don’t think there’s any kind of female rivalry or fighting over any man happening. It’s not that kind of film. It’s a mature and emotionally-riveting film.

Do you think Bollywood cinema is finally growing up from its fantastical love dramas and is happily adulting …

A: There’s a place for everything in Bollywood. I watch ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ once a month at least because that’s home to me and it’s like comfort. But the audience now is evolving and growing. They are hungry for more content and to see real people on their screens. But we can coexist and enjoy all types of cinema.

You play a character who learns about her partner’s infidelity … But as an actor, did you ever judge her or her decisions?

You can’t judge your characters you play as an actor. You have to fall in love with them and you have to defend all the choices they make. And this film has really helped me to be less judgemental about everything and not just my character, but all the characters. I had to understand why Tia was the way she was and why she decided to stay leave. Whatever her choices, I had to defend and understand it. It was never about what Ananya would do in such a situation. It was always about why Tia was behaving the way she was.

‘Gehraiyaan’ seems to be a very personal and intimate film … We know that was an intimacy director on the set, but what kind of legwork was involved?

A: Before we began shooting, Shakun made it a point to take us to Goa and we were all there for two months together. Due to the pandemic, we couldn’t come and go and we were forced to be with each other. So we didn’t have a choice but to love each other and we did. We were put into workshops together for weeks before we started filming. We had intimacy and acting workshops. We felt we were back in a school classroom … There were glances, giggles, secrets …. And it wasn’t just these workshops that made us close … We have all grown up with each other. Deepika and I play cousins and we had to have that sense of familiarity. But it was not something that we had to work too much upon. It felt organic and instant.

What was it like working with Deepika Padukone, who’s more experienced and seasoned than you?

It’s DEEPIKA PADUKONE, like Girl Crush forever. She’s been inspiring a lot of young girls out there. When I wanted to be an actor, I was always observing the choices she made in her career and the complex female parts she chose. Be it Veronica in ‘Cocktail’, Meera [in ‘Love Aaj Kal’], or Tara in ‘Tamasha’, she has always set the bar very high for all of us and she has given us the courage to take on such complex roles. She has given writers and directors the courage to make films that have women at the forefront. Her roles were always realistic and girls were relating hard to it. It was a privilege to be acting across her. I could play off her a lot.

Don’t miss it!

‘Gehraiyaan’ releases on Amazon Prime Video on February 11.