When Ananya Panday was offered the role of Tia in the upcoming film Gehraiyaan, she excused herself and spent the next 20 minutes in the restroom. Reason? “I was in shock that this project was even going to come to me. I was so happy to be part of a film like this,” Ananya had revealed at the trailer launch of the film a few days ago.

At 23, and with three films behind her before Gehraiyaan, actor Chunky Panday’s daughter has already arrested attention for her ease in front of the camera, whether it’s for a film or a fashion shoot.

In Gehraiyaan, slated to stream on Amazon Prime Video from February 11, Ananya takes on one of the most complex and layered characters she’s played so far, in what is a story about messy people and their messier relationships. The film, co-produced by Karan Johar — who launched Ananya three years ago in Student of the Year 2 — is directed by Shakun Batra, the man with real and relatable films like Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and Kapoor & Sons to his name, and co-stars Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa.

Over a video call, we chatted with the effervescent and articulate Ananya on the Gehraiyaan experience, how she handles criticism and how she’s living her dream, one film at a time.

COMING UP: Ananya Panday reunites with her Gehraiyaan co-star Siddhant Chaturvedi in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, named after the soulful Prateek Kuhad number. The White Tiger sensation Adarsh Gourav brings up the rear in this Farhan Akhtar production

How does it feel like being part of a film which almost everyone can’t wait to watch?

Thank you so much! It is quite special, for sure!

I think that’s what happens with Shakun’s (Batra, director) films. People feel like what you see on screen is actually happening in their house. They felt that very, very strongly with Kapoor & Sons. When it comes to the subject of Gehraiyaan, when films like Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Silsila released, they were referred to as being ahead of their time, but what is being talked about in our film is not something that happens only today... it’s been going on forever.

I am referring to infidelity, but I think from the trailer, people have also realised that it’s not just a film about infidelity. The audience wants to dive into the world of Gehraiyaan and its characters and its complex interpersonal relationships.

Ananya Panday with Deepika Padukone in Gehraiyaan

Would you agree that Tia in Gehraiyaan is the most layered character you have played so far?

I will definitely say that this is the most emotionally fleshed-out character that has come my way. Not to take away from my other characters, though. The characters that I have played in the three films before this have all been strong, they had their own complexities, they were real and honest. I got feedback from young girls in the audience that they were all relatable. That’s always the best thing for me to hear because as a young girl, I always look out for women in cinema to relate to.

Tia would definitely be one of the most emotionally complicated characters that I have played. It was definitely challenging, right from the start. Like Sid (Siddhant Chaturvedi, who plays Zain) said that we wanted to play these parts but we just didn’t know how to play them (smiles). Shakun gets all the credit for holding our hands through the process and making it so much easier for all of us.

Ananya (centre) with BFFs Shanaya Kapoor and Suhana Khan

When we had spoken last time, you had said that Gehraiyaan has been a very ‘cathartic’ experience for you because Tia is very close to who you are and that after playing her, you have discovered a lot about yourself. Can you please elaborate?

Now that everyone has got a jhalak of Tia, you get the impression that she is extremely loving. She likes to see the good side of people, she’s very loyal in her relationships and how she is with her family and friends. But she also has an insecure side to her character, a dependent side to her, which I feel I also have. I may not have been exactly through what Tia has experienced because I am still very young and most of my relationships have been the ones that I have had in school (laughs). Those really don’t count.

So while I may have these emotions on the surface, as Tia I had to dive further and experience them more. I had to have that uncomfortable moment of just facing certain truths and certain insecurities that I have within myself and bringing them out. That was cathartic because it was happening in front of the camera, it wasn’t something that I was sorting out sitting in my room or writing in my diary. I had to let go of a lot of barriers and walls that I had built and just trust and submit to the process.

And even though it’s a very intense and complex film, we had a lot of fun making it. That’s because of the kind of people we all are... we have the same sense of humour, and so every day on set was a lot of fun. Shakun would give Sid and I one NG take (Not Good, meaning an unusable take) and just let the two of us ham it out. We would be as filmi as possible because both Sid and I have this huge filmi side to us. So we would go all out and would ham every emotion, but Shakun’s films are completely the opposite of that. That was a lot of fun!

It’s just been a handful of films, but you have left a mark in each. How would you look back at the journey you have had so far?

Honestly, in my first few films, I was so excited about being an actor that I never really thought of the process in that way. I was just enjoying every moment, I was completely going with the flow. With Gehraiyaan, Shakun has really helped me define my process. I have not completely got it, I am still learning. And I have actually fallen in love with getting so deeply into a character that you actually forget when it’s ‘Action’ and when it’s ‘Cut’.

I think every actor will tell you that they have that one character, they have that one moment in a take where they ‘feel’ something. It’s very hard to put it down, you know... you just feel something different and I felt that on so many occasions while filming Gehraiyaan.... Whether it was keeping the dialogues and movements of the actors fluid or taking so many takes.... We all joke about how Shakun likes to go in for a million takes, but that’s not from a place of confusion, it stems more from a place of exploration. For me, working with him has been like tasting blood (smiles)… once you have felt that, you don’t want to go back from it.

COMING UP: Now that’s a click for the ages. Ananya stars in Liger, co-produced by mentor Karan Johar and marking the Bollywood debut of Telugu star Vijay Deverakonda. The bilingual, written and directed by Puri Jagannadh, has boxing legend Mike Tyson pitching in with a cameo.

Which character, apart from Tia, has been the closest to who Ananya is?

It will be very limiting to only play characters who are similar to me. But once I start playing a character, I unintentionally add something of myself to it. That’s why every actor will play the same part differently because there is something of themselves that they are getting into that character.

I actually think it will be very scary to play something very similar to how you are as a person, as opposed to stepping into someone else’s shoes. That’s because when you are playing yourself, you are allowing people to judge you along with the character.

Given that you come from a film family, one would think you would be used to it, but you do get your fair share of criticism. How do you handle that?

It does get to me. I would be lying if I say it doesn’t get to me. I just turned 23. But all credit goes to my parents (Chunky and Bhavana Panday). My dad has had his fair share of ups and downs, and I have grown up seeing him being unaffected and neutral, through both success and failure. I always try and imbibe that from my dad. What truly keeps me grounded is just spending time with my friends and family. I love acting and its my passion, but I also feel the need to disconnect with what accompanies this career sometimes.

At 13, I definitely knew I wanted to be here and doing this. Not even 13, I think I knew it when I was three! I always knew I wanted to be a Bollywood heroine... I am not even saying ‘actor’... I wanted to be that big-screen Bollywood heroine.

At a very early age, you have become a bonafide style icon. What does fashion mean to you?

I don’t take fashion too seriously. One is meant to have fun with it and I like experimenting a lot because you never know what is going to work for you.

At 13, did Ananya Panday know she would be where she is at 23?

At 13, I definitely knew I wanted to be here and doing this. Not even 13, I think I knew it when I was three! (Laughs) I remember watching Kareena (Kapoor Khan), Kajol, Rani (Mukerji) on screen and try and copy every single thing they did. I always knew I wanted to be a Bollywood heroine... I am not even saying ‘actor’... I wanted to be that big-screen Bollywood heroine and that was the dream (smiles).

In fact, a few days ago, Suhana (Khan), Shanaya (Kapoor) and I were sitting down and watching videos of ourselves when we were kids and there was this video of when we were eight or nine and there was some performance, where Suhana was playing our mother and she was yelling at Shanaya and me. And then suddenly from Hindi, we switched to an American accent and we had dupattas on and stuff! (Laughs) It was so much fun to revisit this collective dream that the three of us had growing up together.