When Anjali Sivaraman first heard the title Bad Girl, she didn’t hesitate. She didn’t question the tone or flinch at the boldness. Instead, she smiled, because deep down, she knew exactly what the film was trying to say.
“I immediately understood it was ironic, not something cheap or sensational. I didn’t doubt it for a second. It felt like the most appropriate title for what this story was trying to show.”
Directed by debut filmmaker Varsha Bharath and backed by cinematic heavyweights Vetrimaaran and Anurag Kashyap, Bad Girl is not your typical coming-of-age tale. Set in Chennai, it follows Ramya, a Brahmin girl navigating the highs and lows of love, loss, rebellion, shame, and self-acceptance, all while refusing to fit into the boxes society tries to force her into.
For Anjali, this wasn’t just a role. It was something deeply personal.
“I’ve genuinely never felt this connected to a character before. I was meant to play Ramya.”
Anjali’s path to Bad Girl began long before she stepped into Ramya’s shoes. The actor-singer first made waves in Cobalt Blue (2022) and gained wide recognition as Suhani Ahuja in Netflix’s Class (2023), a role that made audiences sit up and take notice.
“After Class, things started shifting. That’s when people began to see me as a serious actor.”
It was Class that caught the eye of Varsha Bharath, who later cast her as the lead in Bad Girl.
“Varsha saw something in me. And when she explained the story to me, I saw myself in it immediately.”
Anjali has always known she wanted to perform. Whether it was acting, singing, or storytelling, she was laser-focused on her dreams.
“I’ve been hyper-focused on what I wanted to do since I was young, I just kept working hard and showing up.”
Ramya’s journey is anything but neat. She moves through innocence, heartbreak, toxic love, deep comfort, friendship, and finally, self-reclamation.
“I’ve lived through every one of those phases, pure love that wasn’t meant to be, messy relationships, self-doubt, healing... It’s all familiar.”
The phase Anjali relates to most is Ramya’s thirties.
“I’m in my thirties now, and like Ramya, I’m going through a similar journey of self-love and discovery.”
One moment from the film that hit home was when Ramya discovers her boyfriend has cheated on her, just as everyone around her is celebrating their graduation.
“She walks through a sea of people in caps and gowns, totally heartbroken. That image stayed with me. I’ve felt that, surrounded by joy but feeling completely alone.”
Another tender moment: Ramya’s reunion with her lost cat.
“I’ve been through something like that too. It reminded me how important small, quiet moments are, in friendship, in love, in life. We often forget to cherish them.”
But perhaps the most meaningful takeaway for Anjali was a moment of empathy, not for Ramya, but for her own mother.
“We grow up seeing our mothers only as ‘mothers’, as people who must love us unconditionally and have no life beyond that.”
There’s a scene in Bad Girl where both Ramya and her mother are judged in the same frame. That moment made Anjali reflect.
“It gave me a perspective I’d never had before. Our mothers are also women, with their own pain, dreams, and pasts. Even if they try their best, society will find a way to criticise them. That really stayed with me.”
One of the most challenging aspects of the role was portraying Ramya through different life stages, her teens, twenties, and thirties.
“It wasn’t just about changing costumes or hairstyles. I worked on her voice, her body language, her energy in each phase. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to bring to each version of her, the innocence, the chaos, and the maturity.” “When I finally watched the film, I felt proud. I had pulled it off. And we don’t often allow ourselves to feel proud, do we?”
One of the toughest scenes, she says, was a heated confrontation between Ramya and Arjun.
“It was physically and emotionally exhausting. On top of that, I had to do it in a language I’m not fluent in, it was one of the most challenging things I’ve done as an actor.”
In the final scene of Bad Girl, there’s no dramatic twist, no grand resolution. Just Ramya, alone, at peace, with her cats.
“That shot told me everything: love will come and go, but the love you give yourself must stay. It’s okay to sit in stillness. To enjoy what you have, a roof over your head, food on your plate, your pets curled up beside you.”
Anjali believes Bad Girl is the kind of film Indian cinema needs more of.
“It’s not flashy, it’s not trying to be anything it’s not. It’s just honest. It tells the truth, especially through a woman’s eyes.”
She hopes it opens doors for more raw, human stories.
“We need more films like this, to start talking about real human experiences, to show life from different perspectives. There are so many brilliant filmmakers and artists in this country with powerful stories to tell.”
While she’s keeping future projects under wraps, Anjali hints that there’s more to come.
“I’ve done a few cameo roles that are really special to me. I’m keeping those close to my heart for now, we’ll see what comes next.”
But for now, Anjali Sivaraman is standing exactly where she needs to be, in her truth, in her power, and in the role she was meant to play.
“I worked really hard for this. And I gave it everything.”
And it shows.