Ananya Panday has opened up on the tag of being a star kid and how it has turned into an insult.
“I think people make you feel ashamed of where you come from as a star kid. Like, I don’t want to be ashamed of my father,” she said during her appearance on Raj Shamani’s podcast.
She added: “He comes from a family of doctors, but he wanted to be an actor, and he became one. He worked hard and created his own path.”
Ananya Panday has been on a success spree following her back-to-back OTT releases – Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, Call Me Bae and CTRL.
Ananya garnered praise for all three titles. However, Ananya has faced her fair share of criticism over nepotism. She attracted perception of getting things easily since she is a star kid.
She made her theatrical debut with Karan Johar’s ‘Student of the Year 2′. Subsequently, the director-producer backed several of her titles. In a recent interview, She talked about the negative connotations attached to the term ‘Star Kids’. Moreover, she slammed the claims that KJo shrouds her from criticism.
She spoke about the division created between insiders and outsiders. “I think it’s just become very divided. Like ye insider hai, ye outsider (this one’s an insider, that one an outsider). The industry has given us so much. The audience has given us all so much. There are people from a film family who are thriving, and there are people who are not from a film family thriving even more.
“So, I think it’s about the individual more than anything else. Outsiders don’t get tagged or shamed as much as insiders. There’s no immediate tag to shame them with, but for insiders, it’s become a ticket term, almost like an insult, which I don’t think is fair.”
Ananya broke her silence on the claims that Karan Johar protects her against criticism. She revealed that it’s the contrary and the filmmaker wants her to live in the real world. “He (Karan Johar) is very perceptive and very open, and he doesn’t want to shield himself, so I didn’t think he wants it for any of us, you know. He wants us to be in the real world and get as much exposure as possible.”
Asked if Karan made a protective bubble around her, she said: “Not at all. He is the first one to pop the bubble. Rather than feeding us, ki yeh karna hai woh karna hai (telling us to do this or that), he’s just there as a strong pillar of support.” Additionally, Ananya Panday revealed that Karan call her if he doesn’t like any of her performances and is honest about it.
On the work front, Ananya’s last was Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘CTRL.’ Her next is an untitled film based on the life of C Sankaran Nair. The title also stars Akshay Kumar and R Madhavan. She also has ‘Chand Mera Dil’ with Lakshya in the pipeline. Karan Johar is bankrolling both of her upcoming films.