In December of 2008, I went in to watch Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Aditya Chopra’s new film with Shah Rukh Khan and a new, unknown girl. In spite of snagging a debut film (a YRF production, no less) opposite Shah Rukh, the newbie had no buzz around her. Compared with the carpet-bombing publicity campaigns around newcomers like Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor a year before, with Om Shanti Om and Saawariya respectively, this debutante was a completely unknown entity.
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi went on to become a box-office hit, but remains an underrated film. It had a lot going for it – Shah Rukh as the self-effacing Suri who triumphs over his own cocky Raj persona, an authentic small-town milieu, great music and surprisingly, the new female lead Anushka Sharma. I remember coming away impressed with her quiet confidence. She had a meaty role as the vivacious Taani, shared screen time with not one, but two Shah Rukhs, and yet held her own.
But as it turned out, I was in the minority. The film got a mixed critical response – the plaudits were reserved for Shah Rukh and Anuskha was largely ignored. She wasn’t bad they said, just not memorable. As one reviewer put it succinctly, “she was ‘adequate in a wholesome, television-actress sort of way”. Ouch! If any newcomer would make an impact in 2008, it wasn’t going to be Anushka, but the bubbly lead, Asin, of the monster hit Ghajini, that released within 10 days of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Many years down the line, Anushka has proved that fairytale endings can sometimes be deferred. She is today an A-list star, an independent producer backing unconventional content, with a mixed strike rate (NH10 was bang on, Phillauri a novel concept misfired critically and ‘Pari’) and above all, a terrific actor. The type of actor who can breathe life and dignity into problematic writing (Sultan and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil). A star and actor who has starred with the Khan trinity and managed substantial roles in all her films (even opposite Salman Khan, which deserves a special award just for that). And here is where we now play the ‘outsider’ card.
Anushka has done all this in spite of being an ‘outsider’ in a largely nepotistic set-up, and not always playing by its rules of silence and complicity. In 2015, in an interview with film critic Anupama Chopra, she called out the sexism in the Hindi film industry. She didn’t spew vitriol, but said it bluntly enough – “The industry wasn’t a fair place for a female actor”.
In another interview, she said that the industry could be a lonely place if you are not from a film family, read a star kid. Her brand of feminism and plain speak may not quite be the crowd-pleasing go for the jugular variety, that has you rooting for the feisty Kangana Ranaut. But it is one worth taking note of. It may not get you on your feet cheering lustily, but it does deserve a round of quiet applause.
In fact, you should be clapping even harder, because despite the obvious flaws in the industry that she has chosen to be part of, Anushka has made the system work for her. Be it backing novel films as a producer, or more importantly, the roles she chooses to play. None of her roles, starting with her debut film, the forgotten Badmaash Company, the game-changing Band Baaja Baaraat or Ae Dil Hain Mushkil, have been that of a trophy female lead. To break into a system, play by its rules, call it out candidly for its flaws, do work on your own terms and still be an intrinsic part of that system, requires a quieter, more self assured courage. It is tough to break the rules, but it is tougher to make them work to your advantage. It is tough to be successful after being written off. But it is tougher to resist rubbing everybody else’s nose in your success. Anushka stays away from that temptation.
It could be argued that it is has been easier for Anushka to break through, because she has had a heavyweight banner (YRF Films) batting for her through the course of her career. While that is true to an extent, you only need to look at Parineeti Chopra, who is backed by the same banner, but has gone from being a spunky natural to a strangely generic (Golmaal 4, look no further), to realize that, that is never going to be enough.
Anushka then is the ‘outsider’ that Bollywood needs. The girl who does her own thing, but doesn’t make it only about that. The actor who speaks her mind, but doesn’t have a meltdown. The star who realises why you need to have the biggest male stars as co-stars, but never becomes a prop to them. The public figure who takes controversy head on, be it rumours of a botched up lip-job, or the unending scrutiny around a high profile romance, and dispenses them with trademark efficiency. Her plain speak comes laced with pragmatism, and therefore makes it palatable.
Anushka’s success has not been instant, and yet her struggle doesn’t quite capture your romantic imagination as it should, because it didn’t come packaged with a searing angst or a clickbait comeuppance. But it is a hard fought one as well - fought quietly and doggedly. Like Shahrukh trilled in a flash of clairvoyance in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, ‘Haule Haule Ho Jayega Pyar’ (You will fall in love quietly).
He could well have been talking about Anushka’s stardom.
(Naomi Datta watches a lot of Bollywood films, is NOT a film critic and tweets at nowme_datta)
(This story is from The Quint’s archives. It is being republished to mark the actor’s birthday.)
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