Ananya Panday is having an ‘OTT’ moment. Even as her coming-of-age series Call Me Bae continues to trend on #1, CTRL — a film which has her playing a social media influencer dealing with the pitfalls of Artificial intelligence (AI) —has opened to positive reviews on Netflix. A t2 chat.

Ananya as Nella in CTRL, streaming on Netflix.

Call Me Bae is grabbing eyeballs and now you have CTRL, something you haven’t done before. Is it liberating getting to do such diverse work in the OTT space?

I don’t know if it is specific to this space. I always knew that Call Me Bae was an Amazon Original and would be showing on the service. But when we signed CTRL, we didn’t know whether it was going to be a theatrical (release) or go to (film) festivals first.... Eventually, it landed up on the best possible place for it, which is Netflix. So the approach to the film wasn’t catered specifically for a streaming service. We were very open in the way we shot the film.

What aspects of CTRL spoke to you as a user of the Internet, like all of us are, and as a celebrity?

What I related to about my character Nella was that everything in her life becomes public before she can even react to a situation. In fact, it is other people who react on her behalf, tell her how she should behave and feel. As celebrities, everything in our lives is very public and that is something I could relate to. With this film, what I understood was that we are signing our lives away to accepting cookies, we agree to all terms and conditions but we don’t know what the repercussions are. Making this film made me more aware and conscious about that. But that doesn’t mean I do anything about it! (Laughs) I am still very bad with (using) my phone but now I am more aware of the repercussions of AI.

What about Nella felt completely alien to you?

Before playing Nella, I didn’t fully understand what it took to be a social media influencer. I follow so many of them (on social media) and I stalk them religiously (laughs), but I never understood the kind of commitment it takes to be one. Nella hails from a family in Delhi which doesn’t believe in her dreams. They wanted her to give up on her dreams and work in the family business. But she chose differently. That background and that life is not something that I have led. Diving into that and understanding why that makes her who she is was interesting.

Some of the most hilarious parts of the film were you and Vihaan Samat pairing up as social media influencers and doing crazy things for likes and shares. What was the craziest for you? That moustache was a killer!

(Laughs) Yes, that was for one of my favourite characters, ‘Uncle Nella’. It was a lot of fun but I was also very nervous. I shot CTRL before I shot for Call Me Bae and I was a little inhibited back then. I was scared of judgment. But in CTRL, Vikram sir (director Vikramaditya Motwane) and the crew helped me let go of those fears and inhibitions. I stopped feeling like I was looking silly. Shooting some of those reels was a lot of fun because we could be silly in the moment. Like that part where Nella is wearing a fish-head hat! (Laughs)

Also, at one point during the shoot, we didn’t know exactly how the technology was going to work. Like where Joe (played by Vihaan) was supposed to be digitally erased from Nella’s life... we weren’t sure how that would be done. They made me take a few pictures with him first and then he would run out of the frame and I would have to pose in exactly the same way without him. I would just be hugging nothing or kissing the air and looking absolutely ridiculous!

What was it like being directed by Vikram? Almost every actor who works with him has a story of how his deadpan expression after every take makes them wonder if he is happy or annoyed with a shot. Was it the same with you too?

Yes! I would get scared because he would hold his head in his hands most of the time and I would be like: ‘Is he like not liking what I am doing?!’ But I realised that is just the way he thinks... that is his ‘thinking face’. On the last day of shoot, he gave me a big hug and said: ‘I am a fan!’ (Smiles) That is the ‘forever’ validation I needed.

Even though CTRL is a tech-heavy film, he made the environment real for us. I never felt like I was acting with a green screen or that I was not getting the real experience. The voice of Allen (the AI character in the film) is that of Aparshakti Khurana. They converted that in real-time, so I was interacting and being given those cues in real-time. It felt that I was normally reacting to a co-star.

Also, whenever Nella was on FaceTime with Joe, Vihaan would be in another room on FaceTime with me. The team created a free-to-experiment environment.

I love that Vikram sir is a student of cinema first. He is constantly challenging himself and doing something new. That is so inspiring.

How much has working on CTRL enriched you as an actor?

This film taught me to be unafraid of judgment. You only have one chance to give it your everything and there is no point being scared. The format of a screen-life film requires an actor to be present and quick on one’s toes. The camera was constantly in my hand. Also, there are a lot of silences in the film. So just being present and never letting the ball drop was important. Some of the takes would go on for 20-25 minutes!

What is your relationship with social media and what do you think is a celebrity’s responsibility when it comes to social media?

I have a constantly evolving relationship with social media. I am still learning to deal with it. We can’t escape it. I deal with it on a day-to-day, case-by-case basis. I am in the middle of promoting my movie and I have to keep putting stuff out every day. I need to connect with people and I am also reading a lot of comments about how people are feeling about CTRL. I am constantly on my phone now but I am soon going to be taking some time off and consciously step away from my phone.

I can’t speak for everyone but as a public face, it is important for me to be real on social media. I don’t want young, impressionable people who follow me on social media to say: ‘Oh, everything is so perfect about her.’ I don’t want to be perfect, I aim to be real.

I also realise that though we are public figures, it is important to keep something for yourself. I don’t think it is necessary to share every single thing about yourself. As a public figure, there is so little that one gets to protect of oneself but I try to do that as much as possible.

Is that even realistically possible given the paparazzi times we live in?

It has definitely got tougher. No matter how hard you try to stay private, there will always be people digging into every small thing you do. But I try my best to protect certain things.

You spoke of opting for a phone detox soon. Is that something you are able to do easily given how addicted we are to technology now?

It is tough. Even when I stay away, I always look for excuses to lay my hands on my phone. But you have to draw the line somewhere, at least for the sake of your mental health. No matter how hard it seems, you have to pull the plug at some point. We are not aware of how much it is subconsciously affecting us. It piles up and on a bad day, something that I perhaps read a week ago could suddenly affect me. So I feel it is important to take those breaks even if it seems tough. Everything else can wait.

You are having back-to-back releases, travelling the world, being the face of international brands, featuring in diverse projects and getting positive reviews. Would you say that you are living the dream already?

For sure! Just being an actor in itself means that I am living my dream every single day. It is gratifying to get so much love. Call Me Bae is trending at #1 even a month after release. It is a blessing that people have resonated so much with it. I am hoping for lots of love for CTRL. It is a dark, hard-hitting, genre-defining film.

Do you see a perceptible shift in the way the industry and the audience perceive you as an actor?

Yes, for sure. It has happened in good time, naturally and organically. As an actor, I have l learnt with every job. It has taken the right amount of time to get here. I am finally feeling very liberated as an actor and I am looking forward to what is next.

Would you be able to zero in on a turning point?

Gehraiyaan. Before that I was just so excited to be an actor and to be on set every day. I wanted to do the glamorous stuff and sing and dance.... But in Gehraiyaan, Shakun (Batra, director) forced me to dive deeper, find my process and tailor it to myself. That changed me as an actor. Gehraiyaan is the film on the basis of which Vikram sir signed me for CTRL.