Spotlight Reaaady

 

 

It was a question of how and when will it happen, says a confident Sara Arjun about her moment in the spotlight with Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar. Sara, who, for many, has been the find of the spy thriller as the romantic interest of Ranveer Singh’s character, is not just another green horn starting out spectacularly with a blockbuster, but a seasoned actor with almost as much experience as her co-star despite their age gap. “Of course, I really wanted this to happen. But it was a question of how and when. I feel like all of those questions have been answered for me. I keep thanking the universe and everybody who’s given me this opportunity,” Sara told PTI in an interview. At just 20, the actor has already featured in movies alongside Tamil star Vikram, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, late Irrfan Khan and Salman Khan. With Dhurandhar, which has emerged as a massive box office success, collecting over Rs 1,300 crore and counting, she graduates to a female lead role, something the young actor always knew would happen one day.

 

Her journey in the showbiz was “pure coincidence”, said Sara, who is the daughter of actor Raj Arjun, known for his supporting roles in movies such as Black Friday, Rowdy Rathore, Raees, Shershaah and Secret Superstar. “My dad is from Bhopal, and he came to Mumbai to pursue acting and was also trying his luck. It was before I was born,” she said, adding that when she was really young, she was spotted in a mall with her parents and started appearing in a lot of advertisements, including the one for a major shampoo brand. She was just five when she was cast in 2011 Tamil movie Deiva Thirumagal where she played Nila, the daughter of Vikram’s Krishna. “I don’t have any specific memories from that but I remember I used to call him Vikram Appa and I still do. I don’t remember specifics, but we shot in Ooty and it was beautiful.”

 

Deiva Thirumagal was followed by films like Chithirayil Nilachoru (Tamil) and Hindi films -- Emraan Hashmi’s Ek Thi Daayan (2013) and Salman Khan’s Jai Ho (2014). “Jai Ho I clearly remember because it was the first time I did any prosthetic work... But I didn’t get a chance to meet Salman,” said Sara, who played a schoolgirl with a prosthetic right hand in the film. In 2015, she featured in Jazbaa as Aishwarya’s daughter. Sara also played the younger version of Aishwarya’s character Nandini in filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s two-part epic Ponniyin Selvan. “She (Aishwarya) was just so genuine with me, so helpful, and she would take care of me like I was her own daughter. When we shot Ponniyin Selvan 2 and I met her for the first time, I kept thinking, ‘Would she remember me or not?’ But, of course, she did, and she was very kind about it.” Looking back, Sara said being a child actor has worked in her favour.

 

“It’s a big advantage because I didn’t have any inhibitions at that time. I kind of fell in love with it, like I’ve grown up doing this. When you’re a child, you feel emotions so purely -- sadness is sadness and happiness is just happiness. I tried my level best to hold on to the way I work without inhibitions, and it really helps me.” So, is she prepared for all of he attention and fame aafter Dhurandhar? “I was well aware that when fame comes, these things will come and as a child, I don’t know why, but I’ve always been like, ‘When will this happen?’ It’s never been a question of ‘If it will happen for me?’ I always knew what I would be signing up for, and I’m completely okay with everything. “I really like to protect my personal life. I do that well enough by speaking less about it. But other than that, whatever is coming, I’m completely fine with it. In fact, I kind of wished for this, for a really long time,” Sara said. n