Ananya Panday interview: On ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ and the way it represents her era

Early on in Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan, Ahana (Ananya Panday) steals glances at her telephone, conspicuously positioned away from her as she tries to get some work accomplished. The music is ominous, and because it reaches a crescendo, Ahana offers in. She picks up her telephone and scrolls by way of the profile of her ex-boyfriend’s possible new flame.

Once I deliver up this scene with Ananya, the actor is more than pleased to delve into how these smaller moments within the script had been the most important draw for her. Kho Gaye… launched late in December final 12 months, and Ananya has been basking in all of the reward she’s acquired for a efficiency that many have dubbed her greatest but.

“The scene that you simply talked about — each small element was written down by Arjun (Varain Singh). Once I prepped for this scene, I used to be despatched some reference tracks that sounded virtually hypnotic, one among which even performs within the background. I had individuals inform me this scene felt like a horror scene for my era,” she says laughing, on a video name from Mumbai.

“You’re your telephone, and virtually getting hypnotised by it. It’s the unhappy actuality we dwell in, and the script managed to incorporate a variety of these nuances and smaller particulars that I felt represented my era,” she provides.

Billed because the buddy film for this era, taking off from the makers’ previous works like Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Kho Gaye… follows the lives of three 20-somethings in Mumbai as they navigate careers, ambition, friendships and relationships, all in opposition to the backdrop of social media and the clutch it has on the lives of the higher class city Indian youth.

Ananya’s Ahana, as an example, has an MBA diploma and is eager on quitting her dead-end job and pursuing the start-up dream, all whereas going by way of the post-break-up purge. The break-up has left her battling self-doubt and she or he proceeds to place herself by way of the wringer. There’s obsessive Instagram stalking, a newfound ardour for health, relationship apps, and even a revenge outfit (a shiny purple saree).

“Taking part in a personality like Ahana would possibly look easy and appear to be enjoying a model of your self, however a variety of preparation goes into this. I may say, in some ways, Ahana is just like me, however she is as just like me as she is to many different ladies of their 20s on this era. I particularly realised this much more after watching the movie, and Ahana appears to have resonated with a variety of women,” she says.

The 25-year-old actor can be fast to acknowledge how personally linked she felt to Ahana and the method it took to play this character on display. There have been a lot of discussions, jamming, and workshops with ‘the boys’, she says, about prepping for the function along with her co-stars Siddhant Chaturvedi and Adarsh Gourav. This meant spending a variety of time collectively, and letting go of inhibitions. 

“We needed to naked our souls and speak about our vulnerabilities, and on the finish of all of it, I felt like I understood Adarsh, Sid, and Arjun so much higher. It let me be much more susceptible on set, and I wasn’t scared of creating errors,” Ananya explains. The intensive workshops and rehearsals enabled the actors to check out completely different variations of many scenes, and by the point they reached the units, Ananya says, they had been all in sync and able to roll.

Friendship and extra

As a lot as it’s about all of the drama that ensues on account of sudden in a single day social media fame, relationship apps, and extra, Kho Gaye…at its core has the trio of pals — Ahana, Imaad, and Neil. Their relationship onscreen is usually summed up by way of fantastically shot montages set to OAFF and Savera’s languorous music. 

One in all cinematographer Tanay Satam’s greatest pictures within the movie is of the trio sitting in Ahana and Imaad’s front room. The room is bathed in gold with daylight pouring in by way of the home windows. There’s a shared snug silence as all of them stay engrossed in their very own gadgets, watching a video or swiping by way of photographs.

Ananya brings this up as effectively when requested a couple of favorite scene or second from the movie. “I actually liked the silence. Hanging out as a trio in silence, or once we burst out laughing. These had been essentially the most unrehearsed, joyful moments for me and I’ve had individuals come as much as me and say they missed their pals once they noticed this. We needed the viewers to be left with these moments,” she says.

The actor isn’t straying too far-off from expertise, gadgets or screens anytime quickly, on condition that she’s additionally starring in Vikramaditya Motwane’s cyber-thriller movie, which will probably be fully advised by way of screens — a screenlifer.

Given how Kho Gaye… is sort of a commentary on communication and expertise, and the way a era navigates all that it has to supply on a day-to-day foundation, it will be remiss if we don’t focus on how Ananya personally trudges by way of this as somebody who has seen her fair proportion of trolling.

“I had stored a distance from social media for some time earlier than the movie was launched however went on it much more to take heed to the viewers suggestions. I discover my social media utilization fully depending on my state of mind at any given time limit — if I’m mentally up for it, I exploit it much more, or I preserve away. I’ve learnt to mute and limit pages that make me anxious,” she says.