Sara Ali Khan: Scope to learn from peers is boundless

With Sara becoming every industry actress’s best buddy, the actor on shattering the age-old adage that contemporaries must be rivals

Despite the polarising reviews the film received, Sara Ali Khan has earned acclaim for her act as the feisty Rinku in Atrangi Re. Acknowledging that the uncanny storyline, which amused and puzzled viewers in equal measure, is what drew her to the film, she says, “I want to work on films which are as [unique] as Atrangi Re. None of my films should have anything in common. I want to live different lives,” she says, delighted to have found herself in viewers’ good-books after their lukewarm reaction to Love Aaj Kal. 

“When things don’t work, you lose a bit of your confidence. After Kedarnath and Simmba, I was put on a pedestal that I wasn’t sure I deserved. After Love Aaj Kal, I was dragged down brutally. But, I love social media, regardless. I can’t change how people think. So I work on myself instead.” 

Khan (right) training with Kapoor

Since the subject of social media is raised, we can’t help but ask her about her new-found friendship with Janhvi Kapoor. Ever since the duo attended a music concert last month, discussions on their camaraderie has become the talk of the town. “ We are both ambitious, young girls who have lost 18 months of our lives to COVID. We bond over that. We are different people, but comfortable in our skin.” 

Kapoor is not the only one to make a frequent appearance on Khan’s social media. On one occasion, she can be seen shaking a leg with Ananya Panday; on another, she is spotted trekking with Radhika Madan. “I love my peers because they are so different from me. There is boundless scope to learn from them.”  

Apart from her endeavour to shatter the age-old adage that female actors can’t be friends, Khan admits she has many battles to wage against trolls. That they pick on her for being inauthentic each time she greets lensmen with a ‘namaste’, hasn’t gone down well with her. “I have an understanding of what to say, and where. I talk differently with my friends, contemporaries, the press and the paps. That doesn’t suggest that I am fake. I grew up with a single-mother, and learnt that you [must] be a soft person, but have a hard exterior to protect yourself.” 

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