Ananya Panday detaches herself from idea of success; says she looks forward to making mistakes

Life is a mix of rights and wrongs, and Ananya Panday wants that to reflect in her career as well as her life. The actor says she is not afraid of failing or making mistakes, instead wants to accept them, and move on.

“Success as well as failure is a part of the journey. There will be successes and there will be failures. I (strongly believe that) if there is a down, there will be an up, and if there is up, there will be down,” confesses the actor, who recently wrapped up Shakun Batra’s untitled film, in which she will be seen alongside Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi.

It was in 2019 when she made her acting debut with the glamorous Student of the Year 2, and followed it up with Pati Patni Aur Woh the same year.

Her second movie Khaali Peeli, which opened on a digital platform last year owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, failed to elicit expected response, but she is detached to the whole idea of success or failure. “One has to be neutral when both of the things happen,” she muses.

The 22-year-old continues, “When I entered showbiz, there was nothing (about the industry or the experiences) that I was prepared for. Everything was new to me, and every experience has been a new one for me”.

Many would think that Ananya, daughter of actor Chunky Panday, had it easy in the entertainment world considering her “star kid” tag. But it has been quite the opposite, from getting trolled for being connected to the filmy family, to getting mocked for her remarks in interviews, to her fashion choices to getting body-shamed.

And she picks the subject of fashion to give a sneak peek into her mindset for dealing with such things, saying, “It is kind of funny because I am less conscious now”.

“Because I know that there are a lot of younger people out there looking, who look up to me and try to dress like me. That is why I started putting out this messaging to come as the way you are, dress the way you want to, wear what makes you comfortable and makes you happy,” says the actor, who has never shied away from opening up about her struggles, and taking a stand, like she took against cyberbullying.

Her funda is — Have fun, make mistakes, and laugh it off.

“So, that is the kind of mantra that I try to live by hoping that the young girls and boys out there do that as well,” she tells us.

When it comes to film front, she is also working on Puri Jagannadh’s pan-India film Liger co-starring Vijay Deverakonda. During the whole lockdown due to the Covid-19 crisis, she shares, “Sitting at home, I was just miss working and (meeting) my friends”.