A Gold medalist from Delhi’s National School of Drama, Anjali Patil, 23, is the new ‘it girl’ in Bollywood. Soft-spoken and clearly talented, she was instantly noticed in the international feature film, Delhi in a Day, which premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival last October. Since then, Patil was nominated in the best actress category at the New York Indian Film Festival and now has her hands full with movies such as Shree, with actor Hussain Kunjariwala, a bilingual film in Telugu (Prathyayam) and Malayalam (Ente) and the much anticipated Chakravyuh, by director Prakash Jha.
More from the actress:
Rohini, my character in 'Delhi in a Day', is a maid. I work in this rich household in South Delhi, right from childhood, but dream about becoming a star. A foreigner visits this house and loses all his money and I am blamed for it. The movie shows two sides of society, where the rich can only talk about wine, whiskey and their expensive foreign trips, while the poor are caring and have bigger dreams.
People in Delhi tend to show off. I was studying there but whenever I went out, I realised it is in their nature to show off. One cannot call it fake but it has become an integral part of their life.
In Prakash Jha’s movie, I play Juhi, a naxalite. She is a hard, strong-headed naxal girl and considers herself to be a warrior. I play the lead actress and am paired with Abhay Deol. The story is about friends, with the naxalite issue as the backdrop.
I want to learn something at the end of every film. I do not want to be typecast as a glam girl who will dance around. And I should be confident enough to say that no one else can play the role like I did.
I wanted to be a monk before acting happened. I am very philosophical. I always thought it was about me but after getting into the field of acting, I realised I can create a bridge between myself and others. I think an artist is a powerful medium and can help spread a message and bring about a change.
I am happy that actors in Bollywood are recognised not just for looks but performance and sincerity. I prefer doing low profile roles like Nandita Das and Smita Patil.
Chakravyuh is scheduled to release in October.