In an exclusive conversation on Bollywood Hungama’s Hangout at IFP, Ananya Panday shared how her approach to emotional scenes has evolved over the years. When asked how she prepares for heavy moments on screen, Ananya admitted that her earlier method was far more intense. She revealed that when she first started acting, she would try to stay sad from the beginning of the day to maintain the emotion for her scenes.
“I used to think of the worst moments in my life, come for hair and makeup at 8 in the morning, listen to Devdas music and sit in my van crying,” she said, adding that her emotional scenes would sometimes be scheduled as late as 5 PM. “It’s not humanly possible to keep that emotion going.”
With experience, she learned to shift away from that approach. “Now I’m more of a switch-on, switch-off person,” she shared. While she still gets into the emotional space one or two hours before a scene, she no longer digs into personal sadness. “After some time you don’t feel sad anymore. Thankfully, there aren’t that many sad things. It just stops affecting you if you use it for everything.”
Ananya also recalled a piece of guidance she once received from Shah Rukh Khan, which stayed with her. She said he told her that in scenes involving loss, instead of focusing on the idea of death, it can be more impactful to think about what life would look like without that person — or to remember the happy moments shared with them. “That will make you feel even sadder,” she said, adding that she may not have repeated his words as eloquently as he expressed them, but the essence of his advice has remained with her.”
Besides this, Ananya also shared thoughts on her career trajectory, from her debut in Student of the Year 2 to the turning point with Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, which resonated with Gen Z audiences.
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