Actress Ananya Panday, who turned 24 on Sunday, says it is important for her to be surrounded by the people she loves.

The Liger actress, who likes to keep herself busy on her birthdays, said, “I’m just grateful this year for the health of my family and to be able to keep working. I make it a point every year to work on my birthday. Last year, I was dubbing for Gehraiyaan and this year I’m going to be doing a workshop for my next film.”

“My dad always says if you work on your birthday, the entire year will be filled with amazing work and good opportunities,” she added.

Ananya’s birthday resolution this year is to keep challenging herself. “To keep challenging myself, to be the hardest working person in the room, and to give back whenever possible,” she said when asked about her birthday resolution.

Ananya’s mother Bhavana Pandey wished her daughter on her birthday and shared a few throwback pictures.

“I’m a big, big, big birthday person and I’ve always been. I start by celebrating the birthday month and then the birthday week and of course on my birthday. But the older I’m getting, my birthday is becoming more about gratitude and growth rather than just celebration, and I’m enjoying that transformation,” Ananya said when asked if she was a birthday person.

Ananya had an eventful year. She started with Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan and then went on to star opposite South star Vijay Deverakonda in the Dharma Production film Liger.

Ananya also shared her most memorable birthday memories, “Any birthday as a child was always memorable because it was always filled with pure joy, innocence and love and those are the feelings I hope to go forward with every year.”

The actress will be next seen in Excel Entertainment’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan alongside Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dream Girl 2 opposite Ayushmaan Khurrana.