The beautiful, graceful and talented Anupria Goenka is currently enjoying the super-success of her recent web show, Asur 2. She also took out time to head to Maldives days after the show dropped and after wrapping up the promotions. Her pictures from her trip have already grabbed a lot of eyeballs. As soon as she was back, she took out time for an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama wherein she spoke about Asur 2, her incredible journey in Bollywood, working with Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan and a lot more.
It’s been more than three weeks since Asur 2 dropped. Is the feedback still coming in?
Yes, it keeps pouring in even today. I think most people saw it. Most of my friends and several industry people saw it. People have really loved and appreciated it and I can’t be more thankful about it. Asur 2 released three years after the first season and I could sense that the loyalty has increased towards the series. Some people even took out time to re-watch Season 1 before watching the sequel.
Asur 2 is available on Jio Cinema, a free platform. Do you feel that the volume of feedback is more this time as more people must have seen it?
I wouldn’t know that really. I got a lot of feedback even for Criminal Justice 1 and 2, Sacred Games etc. The same goes for The Final Call, even though it was one of the first few shows on Zee5. Still, it did really well. As much as I remember, Asur’s first season was available only to paid subscribers. It was on Voot, which people weren’t watching that much. Asur became Voot’s flagship show at that time. Yet, people lapped it up. Hence, I believe that as long as the content resonates with people, regardless of genre, it will be picked up. That is the main criteria. Of course, when the content is free, it does bring in a lot more eyeballs. This model is great, and it works though there’s no comparison to good content. That’s paramount.
Asur 2 ended with a hint that Season 3 is in the offing. Has work on the third part began?
Writer-creator Gaurav Shukla and director Oni Sen will be the better person to answer. They are very thorough with their work. They won’t do Season 3 for the heck of it. My assumption is that they’ll definitely make the third season as it’s such a popular show. People are already asking for the third season. So, they’ll come with a new season, but we don’t know whether they are and what they are thinking about it.
Speaking of your journey, you are from Kanpur. How did you become an actor?
It wasn’t a straight up decision that I want to act. I was in Kanpur as a kid. I moved to Delhi when I was still in school. I belong to a business family, and I am the fourth and the youngest child. My two sisters are married. My brother is physically special. So, he’s not someone who could have been a part of the business. It was always hinged on me that I would have to take the business forward. By the time I got involved in it when I was in class 11, the business was sinking. We were into losses. I realized that it’s not going to recover easily. This was also the time when I started working in call centers at night. Then in the morning, I would go to our factory. I saw a benefit in having a job in an MNC. With the job, I didn’t have to take care of others except for my family and myself. I did well in sales, and I also became an accent trainer at one point. I was getting promoted every few months. I realized that this is what I want to do in future as well.
Hence, I shut down our family business gradually. As part of the process, there was some drawback I had to take care of which made me come to Mumbai. I was supposed to be there for a week, but I ended up being here for a month. In a fluke, I decided to invest in a property here as I loved the city. I bought a 1-BHK in Thane, not realizing how far it was (smiles)! This also prompted me to shift base to Mumbai. My family had already shifted out of Delhi and relocated to Jaipur. And I was sure I didn’t want to be in Jaipur.
I didn’t have the money to fully pay for the flat. Hence, I took a loan. To get loan sanctioned, you had to be in a corporate job. So, I took up a job again in a call center, got a loan and shifted to Mumbai. Later on, I started working as an executive assistant. I did a couple of more jobs. My last job was in News18. I then bought another place and asked my parents to shift there from Jaipur.
Meanwhile, though we had shut down our business, a lot of paperwork was still pending. As a result, I took a break from my corporate job to focus on it. I had done theatre way back in school and I really enjoyed it. I never wanted to do acting commercially. I was happy with my corporate job. But I wanted to join a theatre group which I couldn’t do while I was doing a job. So, I did theatre but I had to also earn for my family. Theatre sadly doesn’t pay. I kept shuttling between job and theatre for the next 1 ½ years. This is when I fell in love with acting, though I had not done much work. Every play that I became a part of it did not get staged. This happened three times. I would leave a job, work on a play, the play eventually won’t get staged, I would grab a job again to fend for my family and myself and again leave to do a play. This went on for 1 ½-2 years. I realized I need to start earning from my love for acting.
This is when I did an ad for Pradeep Sarkar. It worked and I loved working with dada. I also shot for a pilot episode with Rohan Sippy. It didn’t get made. Dada also took me for another ad campaign called Bharat Nirman and (at) the same time, I bagged a Telugu film.
Were your parents okay with you being an actor?
They didn’t even realize for more than a year whether I have taken up acting seriously. In the beginning, I was very clear that if I don’t earn, I’ll have to go back to a corporate job. But due to luck and hard work, things started to roll. I remember I was in Hyderabad for six months working as a lead in a Telugu film and my father didn’t even know about it! He didn’t realize it. This is when an article had come in The Times of India about Bharat Nirman. It mentioned that I have bagged a Telugu film. That’s when my father realized I am acting (laughs)!
Two years after acting bug hit me, my mother sat me down to ask whether I am going to pursue acting as a profession. I replied in the affirmative. They were eased about it as they have always had faith in me. They knew I would maintain my dignity and do it well. They never questioned me and my career choices.
You worked in South very early in your career. A lot has changed since then, and the concept of pan-India films have also emerged. Would you like to do more films down South?
I would love to. I am really hoping I’ll get an opportunity down South. I am going to try to meet more people down there. They are making such amazing content in all languages.
It’s said that you faced a date clash while shooting for Padmaavat (2018) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017). Could you tell us how it was resolved?
Both YRF (Yash Raj Films) and Sanjay sir were very gracious and helpful. I signed Padmaavat first. Like it happens for any Sanjay sir’s film, you have to give a year’s time. You can’t have date restrictions. This applied to all actors, including the main leads. What worked for me was that my scenes were not there in Khilji track. There was a good clarity on when I am needed and not needed at all. They also never stopped me from doing other work. I was told in January or February 2017 that I was needed for Tiger Zinda Hai in July. This was the time when the schedule for Padmaavat for July was not even decided. So, they didn’t know if I’ll be required. Also, if you remember, Padmaavat’s makers were facing a lot of problems. Meanwhile, YRF wanted to know if I’ll be able to give two months at a stretch for Tiger Zinda Hai as the entire schedule was in Abu Dhabi.
I was quite scared to ask for dates from Padmaavat’s team as things were chaotic. To assume that they’ll be able to allow me to go for two months in such a scenario was tricky. I met Shobha Sant (the then CEO of Bhansali Productions) and she was immensely helpful. Despite the madness, she met me and assured me that I should not let go of Tiger Zinda Hai and that she and Sanjay sir will figure things out. YRF could have easily said that they don’t want to take a chance with me. They, too, were very helpful and trusting. They took a chance as well. So, Ali, YRF, Sanjay Sir, Shobha, all were very helpful. If they had not been so co-operative, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.
Initially, I thought we’ll have a multiple entry visa. We did not, however. Every time I returned from Abu Dhabi, it meant waiting in Mumbai for about two weeks to get visa approved and go back. All the ADs were so nice. When they realized I couldn’t return soon, they assured me to relax and that they’ll work something out. Most of my schedule was done for Padmaavat thankfully, by then. Only a little patchwork was left. It was heartening to see how Sanjay sir and Shobha cared for my career. They knew this was a film with Salman Khan and YRF and how important it was for me.
Did you felt nervous or star-struck while working with Salman Khan in Tiger Zinda Hai and Hrithik Roshan in War (2019)?
No. Salman and Hrithik have been very graceful and helpful. They appreciate talent and they are very respectful. There was no awkwardness. Of course, when I met Salman sir for the first time, I had butterflies in my stomach because he’s someone I had grown up watching. Hence, to do a scene with him was quite surreal. When I met Hrithik, he was the one who came forward to introduce himself. He would always come and say ‘hi’ to everyone. He would also always try bringing in everyone in a scene if possible. Stars like Salman sir and Hrithik really make you feel comfortable. You don’t feel like you are working with stars. The key is for you to know your talent, to hold your ground and be respectful of what you are trying to bring to the table. When you do that, the opposite person also respects it. Salman and Hrithik are stars because they are graceful and have worked very hard to reach this position.
War 2 is being made. Will we see you reprising the role of Aditi?
I hope so. I don’t know whether they are coming back with my character. But I do hope that I’ll be a part of it.
Could you tell us about your upcoming films and shows?
I am working on Milan Luthria’s Sultan Of Delhi. I have finished shooting Berlin last year. It’ll release this year. I did an action film, Khilone, which is on hold. It’ll resume soon. I play the main lead and it’s quite interesting. I did a film, Gubbar, with Vinay Pathak in which I play a psycho killer. It has a dash of comedy as well. I am hoping it’ll also release this year. There’s one film and series in the pipeline as well.
I noticed that you have never done a love story. Would you like to sign a romantic film?
Of course, I want to. However, I haven’t been offered. Whenever such scripts came my way, it didn’t materialize. So, I am hoping as I want to do a love story for sure.
What are your dreams and what do you wish to do in the next couple of years?
I want to travel a lot more and see the world. Maine life mein travel bahut kam kiya hai. Last year, I started my spiritual journey. For the last 1-2 years, while my projects were getting delayed, I decided to concentrate on my own personal growth. I started doing a lot of things like starting my spiritual journey, travelling, learning horse riding, dancing and pottery. I want to now learn singing. I have adopted two puppies at home. I am spending a lot of time with them. I always wanted to have pets but always kept pushing it. I want to do some social work. I used to do it in education with kids before I started to act. My brother is physically special. So, I feel very strongly about doing something for kids with special needs. I also want to start a wellness center. I have already started to make plans for it. And primarily, I want to act a lot more and do international work hopefully. I want to do roles that inspire me and help me touch lives in a different way.
Also Read: Watch: Anupria Goenka speaks about her five favourite web series
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