ELLE Digital Cover Star: Pashmina Roshan Is Just Getting Started

I remember watching Ishq Vishq Rebound for the first time in 2024 with my friends — the kind of evening shaped by shared nostalgia and quiet curiosity. There was an anticipation in the room, subtle but unmistakable. We had grown up on “Pyaar Dosti Hai…” — a line that, for many of us, formed the earliest grammar of love. So perhaps we were always going to be drawn to something that felt emotionally adjacent.

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What I didn’t expect was to feel seen.

The film didn’t arrive with the urgency of a reinvention. Pashmina Roshan’s Sanya felt like someone you’ve known at some point in your life — the girl next door, yes, but without caricature. There was charm, but it wasn’t performative. Watching her on screen felt refreshing. Uncomplicated. Almost like a breath of fresh air in a space that often favours intensity over sincerity.

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“The film captured the balance of young love in a way that feels real, fun, and relatable, while still holding on to the warmth and charm that made the original special,” she says. “It reflects how relationships today are more self-aware, fluid, and rooted in choice.”

That balance — between warmth and awareness — seems to extend beyond the film.

The same energy carries into our digital cover shoot. Since her debut, Roshan hasn’t rushed to saturate the public space, And yet, in conversation, she feels surprisingly familiar. There’s a quiet confidence to her. She speaks with a steadiness that suggests she understands where she stands.

Her language circles back to one consistent place: self-trust. “Walking away from what doesn’t feel right, committing to growth, and staying anchored in my values has been empowering,” she says. The past year, she explains, has been formative. Less about external momentum, more about internal calibration.

Debuts are loud by nature. They are scrutinised, interpreted, often amplified beyond proportion. But what happens after the noise settles is often more revealing. “Choosing myself again and again has been important,” she adds. “External validation comes and goes. Self-trust is everything.” There’s thoughtfulness in the way she articulates this — an understanding that resilience is not performative, but practiced.

Being watched early in one’s career requires discernment. It demands an ability to separate commentary from character. “I’m learning to treat feedback as information, not identity,” she says. “Staying open while remaining anchored is a balance I’m still figuring out, but I try not to outsource my sense of self to opinions.”

The distinction is deliberate. She understands the ecosystem she operates within — and the necessity of remaining intact inside it.

Legacy, inevitably, enters the conversation. Roshan carries a surname deeply intertwined with the history of Indian cinema. “All the family members who came before me in this field are men,” she says. “So I’ve come to realise that my journey as a woman naturally follows a different rhythm.” There’s awareness in that statement, and an acceptance of its implications. Her path, she understands, will not mirror anyone else’s. That understanding allows her to engage with the space thoughtfully — with respect for what came before, and room to define what comes next.

When asked what success means beyond box office numbers or digital metrics, her response is measured. “Success is feeling aligned and fulfilled by the work I’m doing,” she says. “Metrics matter too — they’re part of the ecosystem. It’s about caring about outcomes without letting them overshadow your sense of self.”

It’s a pragmatic answer, neither romanticised nor dismissive. She acknowledges the structure of the industry without surrendering to it.

The roles she gravitates toward reflect that interiority. “I’m interested in stories where characters feel real and evolving,” she says. “Self-discovery, doubt, the messy beauty of being human. I connect most with what feels emotionally truthful.” There is patience embedded in that inclination — a willingness to wait for resonance rather than chase immediacy.

Fashion, too, becomes part of that exploration. “Style feels like expression some days, armour on others, and often just play,” she says. “I enjoy letting it evolve organically.” On set, the evolution is subtle but visible — she experiments, adjusts and inhabits each look.

When asked to write her own headline for this chapter of her life, she answers without hesitation: “Fierce, Fearless, Flourishing.” It sounds less like a proclamation and more like an intention she carries forward.

Beyond the public frame, there are smaller rituals. She’s re-reading A Court of Thorns and Roses. Pani puri remains her enduring comfort food and Rosalía is being played on repeat. These details emerge casually, grounding the larger narrative in something recognisable and lived.

If there is a defining quality to Pashmina Roshan at this moment, it is steadiness. A refusal to conflate visibility with value. A preference for alignment over acceleration. She is not in a hurry to be understood all at once. 

Her story is unfolding — in rhythm with her own understanding of who she is becoming.

And perhaps that is the most compelling place to begin.

Team Credits

Editorial Director: Ainee Nizami Ahmedi; Photographer: Ridhika Mehra; Asst. Fashion Editor: Tejashree Raul; Asst. Art Director: Alekha Chugani; Makeup: Riddhima Sharma Khubchandani; Hair: Esther; Set Design: Jahnavi Gaba; Words by: Taronish Batty; Assisted by: Hardika Singh (styling), Tapasya Sawant (bookings)