‘Why Can’t Women Be Crazy In Love?’

‘It’s
always
the
men
who
are
going
crazy,

barbaad.
They
never
show
a
woman
going
crazy
like
that.’
‘A
woman
has
to
be
very
proper,
sitting
on
a
swing,
crying.’

Since
her
parents
were
associated
with
the
film
industry,

Anjali
Anand
always
knew
she
wanted
to
be
a
part
of
that
world.

Television
became
her
launching
pad
before
she
seamlessly
moved
to
the
next
level
with
the
Dharma
Productions
film

Rocky
Aur
Rani
Kii
Prem
Kahaani.

She
came
into
her
own
as
one
of
the
leads
in
the
slice-of-life
drama

Raat
Jawaan
Hai
and
continued
with
another
solid
role
in
the
crime
caper

Dabba
Cartel.

Anjali
is
proud
of
her
unconventional
looks,
and
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com,
“I
have
never
thought
of
myself
as
something
different.
Who
wants
to
be
standard
beautiful?
Nobody.
Standard
beautiful
is
not
even
beautiful
anymore.
I
have
not
come
here
to
break
any
beauty
standards;
I
believe
it
will
happen
on
its
own.”

In
your
last
three
outings,


Rocky
Aur
Rani
Kii
Prem
Kahaani,
Raat
Jawaan
Hai
and

Dabba
Cartel,
you
play
different
shades
of
a
feisty
woman.
How
similar
is
the
real
Anjali
from
these
recent
characters?

Now
that
I’m
looking
back,
I’m
thinking,
oh,
they
were
quite
feisty.

They’ve
been
rebellious.

They
would
enter
the
room
and
command
the
room.
I
think
that
is
one
quality
that
maybe
I
have
because
that
is
what
even
Shibani
(Akhtar,
co-creator
and
co-producer)
told
me
when
she
cast
me
for

Dabba
Cartel.

I
just
recently
spoke
to
David
Dhawan
sir
and
he
told
me
I
saw
you
on
screen
and
there
was
a
spark.

It
is
like
you
find
yourself
in
a
character
and
the
rest
is
just
keeps
happening
on
its
own.

Dabba
Cartel
marks
your
third
collaboration
with
screen
legend
Shabana
Azmi
after

Rocky
Aur
Rani
Kii
Prem
Kahaani
and
the
yet
unreleased

Bun
Tikki.
How
is
she
as
a
person?

I
don’t
think
there
is
someone
luckier
than
me
to
be
able
to
work
with
her
for
so
many
years
continuously.

We
still
meet
for
promotions
and
she
has
been
wonderful.

We
were
not
so
close
during

Rocky
Aur
Rani
because
we
didn’t
have
scenes
together.
But
whatever
time
we
spent,
it
was
really
nice.

Then
I
met
her
at

Dabba
Cartel‘s
reading
and
then,
at

Bun
Tikki‘s
reading.
It
was
so
beautiful
to
have
a
familiar
face.

She’s
like
a
buddy
to
me.

She
doesn’t
seem
like
she’s
older
or
senior,
she
makes
you
feel
so
comfortable.

But
once
you
start
acting
with
her,
you
get
scared
again.
She
looks
into
your
eyes
and
I
don’t
think
anybody
else
can
do
anything.
You
can
just
be
frozen
and
try
not
to
make
a
fool
out
of
yourself.
(Laughs)

Apparently
you
were
the
last
one
to
join
the
cast
of

Dabba
Cartel.
What’s
the
story
there?

The
show
was
in
the
works
since
the
lockdown.

Everybody
was
on
board.
Workshops
were
done,
readings
were
done,
and
they
were
ready
to
go
on
floor
in
four
days.
I
was
brought
at
the
last
minute.

Shibani
saw
me
in

Rocky
Aur
Rani
Kii
Prem
Kahaani
and
felt
she
needed
to
cast
this
girl
in
this
part.

She
secretly
auditioned
me.
Everybody
was
telling
her
she’s
crazy
for
changing
one
of
the
main
actors
just
four
days
before
the
shoot.

But
she
said,
‘No,
this
is
the
right
girl.’

I
remember
I
went
for
the
reading
and
obviously
Shabanaji
was
there,
and
the
entire
cast
was
there.

I
read
from
the
fifth
episode.
I
had
not
even
read
from
the
first
episode.

The
first
day
of
shoot
was
my
scene.

You
once
said
that
you
always
had
this
vision
to
do
movies.
How
do
you
look
back
at
your
journey
from
TV
to
the
big
screen?

The
transition
happened
naturally.

Right
before
lockdown,
my
television
show
got
over.

After
that
people
said
you
have
to
wait
for
a
big
break
to
happen.
I
didn’t
listen
to
that.

Whatever
work
comes
to
me,
I
take
it
up.

I
don’t
worry
about
the
size
of
the
role.

If
it’s
good
money
or
a
good
part,
I
will
do
it.

The
more
I
work,
the
more
people
see
me,
the
more
people
know
me,
the
more
work
I
will
get.
It’s
just
as
simple
as
that.

If
I
keep
waiting
for
the
better
part,
it’s
not
going
to
come
sitting
at
home.

I
was
in

Bell
Bottom
for
a
passing
shot.

Bell
Bottom
was
shot
in
the
lockdown
and
they
said
that
you
will
have
to
stay
in
Scotland
for
two
months
in
a
bubble.

I
said,
happily.

Rather
than
staying
in
Bombay,
I
would
rather
stay
in
Scotland
for
two
months.

After
that,
the
television
calls
stopped
and
I
was
getting
approached
for
Web
series
and
movies.

There
was
obviously
a
plan
that
I
will
do
films
but
it
was
to
do
it
much
later,
after
I
turned
30.
But
it
happened
when
I
was
28.

When
I
got
back
from
Scotland,
I
got
a
call
for

Rocky
Aur
Rani.

You
have
done
a
bunch
of
interesting
things
as
actor.
From
daily
soaps
to
reality
shows
and
Web
series,
films…

It’s
like
being
in
a
candy
shop.
Why
should
I
not
do
all
of
it?

You
once
said
that
you
want
to
play
‘Lady
Devdas’.
What
makes
it
such
a
fascinating
character
for
you?

Yes!
You
see
Guru
Dutt
as
Devdas
and
you
see
all
of
these
men
being

aashiq,
premi
in
the
movies.

It’s
always
the
men
who
are
going
crazy,

barbaad.
They
never
show
a
woman
going
crazy
like
that.

A
woman
has
to
be
very
proper,
sitting
on
a
swing,
crying.

Why
can’t
women
be
crazy
in
love?

We
went
there
a
little
bit
with

Cocktail,
with
Deepika
Padukone’s
character.

Women
are
put
in
this
box.

I
want
women
to
be
out
of
that
box
and
be
seen
in
a
different
light.

That
we
also
are
crazy
in
love
and
we
also
have
that
passion.

What
empowers
you
as
an
artist?

I
like
to
observe
people.

Right
now,
I’m
at
my
best
friend’s
wedding
and
last
night
we
saw
someone
dancing
and
I
just
wanted
to
imbibe
what
he
was
doing.

You
have
to
be
aware
of
your
surroundings
and
love
people
and
just
accept
people
the
way
they
are.

In

Raat
Jawan
Hai,
I
put
a
lot
of
my
brother
in
me.
The
way
he
talks
and
the
way
he
is.

Your
Instagram
has
some
lovely
posts
dedicated
to
your
father.
How
old
were
you
when
he
passed
away?

I
was
eight.
I
was
too
young,
so
I
have
really
spotty
memories
of
him.

In
the
past,
there
were
no
phones,
so
no
photos
or
videos.

I’m
just
happy
that
he
was
an
actor
and
I
get
to
hear
his
voice
and
see
him
in
motion.

He
used
to
be
a
junior
artist
and
my
mom
a
dancer.
He
used
to
earn
10
rupees,
she
used
to
earn
20
rupees.

She
used
to
tell
him,
‘I
will
never
date
you.’

He
bought
a
bike
just
to
impress
her.

He
would
not
leave
her
during
shooting
days.
If
she’s
gone
for
a
song
shoot,
he’d
be
sitting
on
the
pavement
outside
waiting
for
her.

It’s
very
cute,
how

aashiq
he
was.

You
have
spoken
about
how
actors
are
often
labelled
as
‘plus
size’.
In
the
industry
that
thrives
on
unrealistic
beauty
standards,
how
difficult
was
it
to
find
your
path?

I
have
never
thought
of
myself
as
something
different.
Who
wants
to
be
standard
beautiful?
Nobody.
Standard
beautiful
is
not
even
beautiful
anymore.

I
have
not
come
here
to
break
any
beauty
standards;
I
believe
it
will
happen
on
its
own.

Does
this
noise
bother
you
sometimes?
Say
social
media
for
example,
where
anyone
can
say
anything.

It
does
get
overwhelming
sometimes.

I
feel
people
are
so
stupid
that
they
have
so
much
time
to
think
about
other
people
and
what
they
are
doing,
how
they
are
looking…

People
should
just
let
people
be.

Social
media
is
like
a
monster
that
just
keeps
growing
and
not
in
a
good
way.

But
I
think
negative
2
per
cent,
98
per
cent
is
good
only.
The
idea
is
to
concentrate
on
what’s
good
and
block
the
rest.

Do
you
think
there
is
a
positive
change
when
it
comes
body
inclusivity?

I
don’t
know
about
body
inclusivity
but
people
still
say
I
look
dusky.

But
it’s
not
their
fault,
it’s
how
they’re
conditioned.

We
are
told
not
to
play
outside
otherwise
it
will
turn
our
skin
dusky.
Our
own
parents
tell
us
that.

This
generation
being
so
aware,
I
think
they
have
a
very
big
responsibility
of
how
they
will
teach
the
future
generation.
If
we
do
that,
there
will
be
a
lot
of
change
in
society.
Otherwise,
we
will
go
backwards.

I
cannot
end
this
interview
without
asking
you
about
the
second
season
of

Raat
Jawan
Hai.
Any
update?

(Laughs)
It
is
already
being
written.

I
hope

Dabba
Cartel
and

Raat
Jawan
Hai
have
second
seasons
too.

Raat
Jawan
Hai
is
such
an
underdog
show.
That
show
has
given
me
a
lot.

It
didn’t
get
that
popular
but
people
who
watched
it
have
absolutely
loved
it.