Mystery #5
Surely, you’ve had your own, unique career trajectory. But you spoke about your dad earlier, who is an Army man. It surprises me the number of female actors in Bollywood, who’re from the Services background — Sushmita Sen, Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai, Preity Zinta, Neha Dhupia, Gul Panag… What’s the connection?

Anushka: Well, those who come from an Army background, especially girls, aren’t brought up along the same standards as, perhaps, a others in the same society. Unless the parents are really misogynistic, the boys and girls grow up with a complete equality. My brother and I had the exact same upbringing. He was asked to be as careful as I was, because we also got raised in a very protected environment — our school, hospital, everything was right there. There is also uniformity in living. All the houses look the same. What happens in such a space where one doesn’t look at differences in social-status, or money, is your character and personality ends up developing in a different way. Not just in the film industry, you’ll see a lot of Army kids successful in other spheres. We’re encouraged to ask questions and express our opinions at parties, with generals, and high-ranking officials. There’s a sense of freedom that you carry in your head. This makes being able to approach professions such as the film industry with a lot more confidence.

So you’re saying the cantonment allows you to be unconscious of whether you’re a girl, boy, rich or poor?
Anushka: It’s only when I came to the ‘civilian’ world, starting out as a model (at the age of 14), that I first wondered: Why are people so petty? We have more real issues to deal with. Our fathers are posted in the border. It’s a different life altogether. Who I am as a person has a lot do with my upbringing. You need self-assuredness to enter an industry like ours. That’s how you see someone like Priyanka (Chopra), a confident girl, ruling the world right now. I’m so proud of her. It’s hard what she’s doing right now.
Also, we keep moving homes and cities so often, always making new friends. This helps you adapt more easily. That’s why, maybe, today I don’t get shaken up so easily with life changing scenarios.

Did you always know you were going to land up in Bollywood?
Anushka: If you’d told me about 15 years ago that this is where I was going to be, I’d say you were crazy. Being an actress is such a far-fetched thing for where I come from. Growing up, I must’ve seen probably five movies a year in the theatre!