Everyone has a dark side in Gehraiyaan : Ananya Panday to SheThePeople

"As people as human beings we have one personality we show to the public, there's one for our friends and our family and there's one that's honest to ourselves. I liked the idea of these interpersonal relationships which mirror how real people are." Ananya Panday who plays the role of Tia in Shakun Batra directed Gehraiyaan speaks to SheThePeople in a detailed interview.

"There are complex female characters, complex male characters, and everyone was coexisting. I really liked that," says Panday, whose co-stars are Siddhant Chaturvedi and Deepika Padukone in the film, that's based on modern relationships and the conflicts they bring.

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Panday says the film reflects on a reality which that everyone had a hidden truth, a dark side, a good side. "There was no one person as a bad guy in the film."

She adds that the film "came to me." Panday was keen to work with Shakun Batra, who has directed films like Kapoor and Sons staring Sidharth Malhotra. About her own role Panday says, "people get to see a more fleshed out, more vulnerable not the most endearing character that they have seen from me."

Here are excerpts from our interview with Ananya Panday:

SheThePeople: You used the word vulnerable about your character, what makes it that? Are audiences maturing to want real plots or are directors pushing the envelope?

I remember when I was growing up I was always looking for female characters to look up to and to relate and I can only name a handful. Now the audience has evolved. They are hungrier to see real people on screen and character they can relate to. It's happening in parallel with the change we are seeing in directors and writers. They too have always wanted to tell these stories for a long time and I think they were worried about box office pressure or fear of possibility that some actor may not want to do that.

But now there is so much confidence to tell stories.

How are female characters changing on screen?

I think usually I feel women are stereotyped in films. Either they are the bitch, the badass or bechari. Within those they will find some complexity but it is usually one of the three or a combination of those. There are these tropes their characters go towards. But now it is reassuring to see its going away and I am seeing women like myself on screen. I want to see those. I just don't want to represent women in these stereotypical roles but represent the different kind of women of India. I don't want to represent what men think women are.

Gehraiyaan release cast and other information

Shakun Batra directional, Gehraiyaan, is all set to release on February 11, 2022. The film's cast Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ananya Panday will be seen manoeuvring modern relationships with the added conflict of adultery. The trailer of the film has set high expectations among the audience as it not only has Bollywood's finest playing the lead role but also a unique plot not much explored in many films.