Before 'Student of the Year 2', it was reported that Ananya Panday would be launched by Salman Khan.
Ananya Panday's journey in Bollywood - from her debut with 'Student of the Year 2' to her latest release 'CTRL' - is quite interesting, not to mention inspiring. During her initial days in showbiz, the actress had to endure consistent trolling for literally everything about her, especially her privilege of 'nepotism'. Of course, she had enough connections in the industry which made her debut easy. But let's have a healthy discussion here - wasn't it unfair that we, the audience, practiced such relentless scrutiny over her? And yes, everyone has their own 'struggle'; we may never be able to understand the insane pressure that star kids have to deal with.
But what's inspiring about Ananya is that she rose above all the adversities that came her way. With the 2022 film 'Gehraiyaan', the actress showcased to the world that she, too, can act. And she went on to impress us with her works in films like 'Dream Girl 2', 'Kho Gaye Hum Kahan', and of course, the latest 'CTRL'. From once being the target of social media trolls, she now enjoys enormous critical acclaim - isn't that what we call 'growth'?
Credit: netflix_in
Born on October 30, 1998, Ananya Panday celebrates her 26th birthday today. On this occasion, we share an interesting fact about her that you didn't know.
Yes, you read it right. Ananya Panday was mentored by none other than Bollywood's Bhaijaan - Salman Khan.
According to several reports, Ananya was actually supposed to make her debut under Salman Khan's production banner. And right after her graduation, she started preparing for the same under the mentorship of Khan. She trained with celebrity fitness coach Yasmin Karachiwala, got her diet monitored by a celebrity nutritionist, and also took several short-term acting and dance classes.
However, she eventually made her debut with Karan Johar's production, 'Student of the Year 2'.
It's worth noting that the 'Sikandar' actor is often referred to as the "Godfather of Star Kids", as he has mentored many of them over the years. Besides Ananya Panday, the list also includes Sooraj Pancholi, Arjun Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, and Daisy Shah among others.
Coming from a family rooted in the Hindi film industry, Ananya Panday aspired to become an actress from a very young age. In 2017, after completing her higher secondary education, she participated in Vanity Fair's Le Bal des débutantes event in Paris, earning loads of acclaim. And in 2019, she made her Bollywood debut with Karan Johar's 'Student of the Year 2', co-starring Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria.
The film did an average business at the box office, collecting ₹98.16 crore against its production budget of ₹65 crore. However, it earned Ananya the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.