Sanjana Sanghi, the wide-eyed girl who aspires to give everything she has on the sets!

At the age of 14, Sanjana Sanghi landed for the film Rockstar. She managed to juggle the responsibilities of working under Imtiaz Ali’s leadership with her talent. Later on, she developed an enduring interest for acting at an early age by working closely with Ranbir Kapoor. Now, she remains the wide-eyed girl who wants to give it her all on the sets, even after all these years. She worked with action starrer movies like Rashtra Kavach Om and with Sushant Singh Rajput on movies like Dil Bechara, which she still treasures. Her most recent film was Kadak Singh, which starred Mr. Pankaj Tripathi too. She enjoyed every second of it.
In an exclusive interview with us, the upcoming sensation for the celeb talk segment speaks in detail, “My greatest fear, which I managed to conquer, was performing in Rockstar as a young actor. As a youngster from Delhi, I had no personal ties to the movie business. I saw Imtiaz at school. He said, “That’s the girl I want,” when I was performing kathak, and then I found myself on the sets. That served as my first test. Just take advantage of the opportunity if it was given to you. Challenges, in my opinion, constantly evolve at different phases. When I first started working in Dil Bechara, things were different. After five films, the most difficult thing to figure out was where the auditions were taking place. The second task was to resist the urge to cry after being turned down.”
Growing up, she had done advertisements and then landed the film Rockstar. She continued, “I used to receive a lot of calls for auditions because people were still aware of me and my work. However, not many call backs were received. I used to cry uncontrollably on the phone to my dad. And he would reply, “It’s not rejection; it’s you trying again and being brave. My only advice to young people who are outsiders like me and want to thrive in life is to improve as an actor and keep trying till you achieve. Never give up.”
Seems like, she knows her fans adore her, so she feels validated today! “I still get compliments on my thick and rhino-like skin from people. I remain sensitive. I still feel a lot of emotion. God has been good to me over the past two or three years, and I get to perform some amazing work, I believe. Yet, everyday had been a struggle! Mumbai city has exorbitant prices. Keeping up with everyday costs is really difficult. A basic blow-dry used to cost at least 500 rupees when we used to go for auditions, and I couldn’t always afford that kind of money. The weather is also very erratic. When you leave a salon feeling confident and well-groomed, the rain starts and ruins everything. After that, you have to lug around this enormous tote bag that will hold around ten changes. You go from auditions for toothpaste commercials to shampoo commercials, learning how to hustle and look good for every assignment no matter what,” shared the actress who is a former mass communication graduate too.
She used to believe that success was achievable with enough effort. The actress recalled, “From my first days in Mumbai, I realized that the path isn’t simple and straightforward. Even if you put your everything into a movie, it may not perform well at the box office. It doesn’t guarantee that viewers will adore the movie or your acting. But then, I have discovered that if you keep knocking, eventually the doors will open for you. For example, athletes are shown sprinting on a track. You’ll get to the finish line sooner if you’re in the inner circle. The runners on the outer circles will have a more extended run. In the industry, things operate similarly as well. Of course, everyone has to run the race. However, some people live closer. The most important thing is to never allow fatigue to creep in. Simply keep going, one foot at a time, until you reach the finish.”
She in fact, adores every aspect of the business. However, she also thinks that there is life outside of movies! “It benefits your emotional and physical well-being. The odd thing is that very few people discuss it. Two ladies I have always admired and watched growing up, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Anushka Sharma, have recently talked openly about these aspects. We exalt the workaholics. Priyanka has admitted that she didn’t eat or sleep well in her 20s. In the long term, that does wear you out. If being busy nonstop is negatively impacting your health, what good is it? If you want to become a great artist, you have to invest in something more than just movies,” the actress signs off.