This year, Sanya Malhotra completes ten years of being an actor. It was in 2016 that she marked her debut with Aamir Khan’s Dangal, where she played wrester, Babita Kumari. She may have had a shorter screen
time in the film but Sanya went on to carve a niche for herself with critically acclaimed performances in both mid-budget as well commercially big films.
An outsider from Delhi, Sanya navigated the ways of showbiz on her own terms. But what has been the toughest part of her journey was learning to say no to patterns that didn’t sit well with her. “I learnt how to say no over time. Now, I say it quite easily. But it took me some time. Na bolne se pehle mujhe panic attack aa jaata tha,” she tells News18 exclusively.
What further petrified her was the fear of less work offers as a consequence. “I used to wonder, how do I say no? I would be worried that if I do that, I may not get work after that. And even if I somehow did it, I would carry this guilt for months on end. Apart from me not getting more opportunities, mujhe yeh darr lagta tha ki unko bura lag gaya hoga,” says Sanya.
Polite but stern is her mantra now. “You need to understand this that a film is a director’s medium. But you, as an actor, can definitely give your suggestions. Sometimes, they listen to you and sometimes, they don’t. But I learnt it the hard way that if I don’t say no, it would mean that I’m only living their dream and doing things their way instead of living my own life,” she remarks.
The actor, who was recently seen in Toaster, further adds, “I believe that there’s a way to put your point across. If you do it in the right way, then there’s no problem. If it’s about a stunt, then you’ll really have to put your foot down. You can’t take these things so lightly.”
Sanya’s Toaster co-actor Archana Puran Singh recalls an episode from the sets that stayed back with her.
“I learnt this facet from Sanya while working with her on the sets of Toaster. She had put her foot down and said that she can’t give a certain shot by riding a scooter. I tried pushing her but then I came to know that she had had a bad experience while riding a scooter earlier. She had met with an accident,” Archana tells us.
Further praising the Mrs and Kathal actor, she adds, “Since she wasn’t confident, she said no because she didn’t want to give a bad shot. That’s when a body double was brought in. I remember speaking to her at that time and lauded her for saying no with so much confidence and self-assurance and that’s when she told me that she has learnt this the hard way.”
