Class might have dropped on Netflix two months back but it continues to be in conversation even now. An adaptation of the acclaimed Spanish series Elite, the coming-of-age show explores the lives of a bunch of young adults played by Gurfateh Pirzada, Anjali Sivaraman, Ayesha Kanga, Chayan Chopra, Chintan Rachchh, Cwaayal Singh, Madhyama Segal, Moses Koul, Naina Bhan, Piyush Khati and Zeyn Shaw. In an exclusive chat with News18, Anjali, who played Suhani, says that the show has made heads turn towards her and ‘actually opened doors’ like never before.
“I’m so grateful for Class having garnered as much attention and appreciation as it has. Earlier, people would really have to consider whether or not it’s worth casting me in something. Right now, I think that opinion has changed because, in a way, I’ve proven myself as an actor. I’m actually being considered for more roles that I auditioned for. I’m being approached by more directors and producers. It’s a really nice feeling,” says Anjali.
Having featured in a bunch of television commercials, she became a popular name in the fashion world after she began modelling for couture designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee. However, acting was always been on her mind. Quiz her about her decision to foray into modelling before making her acting debut and she says, “Modelling was a stepping stone for me because it helped me get out there a little. It helped people see and remember my face a little more. When it came down to casting, they would be like, ‘Yeah, let’s cast that girl who modelled for Sabyasachi.’”
For Anjali, modelling was also a way to sustain in Mumbai and earn a livelihood to propel her acting career. She elaborates, “Modelling was something that I started doing initially as a means to an end. I needed to make money to be able to support my dreams and eventually, achieve those dreams. Bombay is an expensive place and I had to work and so, I started modelling and I eventually got into it and actually started enjoying it a lot.”
Though a slew of models such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Arjun Rampal, Bipasha Basu and John Abraham have established themselves as actors in the film industry today, young models wanting to become film stars often face prejudices for not being able to emote as well as trained artists. So, has Anjali ever faced such indiscrimination? “I haven’t faced that prejudice because with the kind of face and personality that I have, I’m neither here nor there. I’m not very easy to place when it comes to either one of the industries. So, when people looked at me or talked to me, they wouldn’t think of me as a model,” she states.
What also helped keep these biases at bay is the fact that she enrolled herself at an acting institute. “Acting is something that I took pretty seriously. I went to acting school. I never had too much of a problem in front of the screen. I think I take direction relatively well and that helped me not get typecast or labelled,” the PM Selfiewallie actor remarks.
Despite being born to singer and actor Chitra Iyer, Anjali reveals that she never counted on her mother and her connections to get a job in the entertainment business. And so, she was patient over the last few years and waited for that one big break. “Yes, my mother is an established musician and actor but she has worked mostly in the South. I always made it a point not to lean on my family for that sort of support because I had it in my brain that I had to do everything on my own for it to mean something. I struggled for a good eight years till I got cast in something,” avers the actor, who was also seen in Cobalt Blue (2022).
Read all the Latest Movies News here
Comments
0 comment