Armed in a silk brocade kurta designed by her mother, Renu Malhotra, and a strong belief in the film she was a part of, actor Sanya Malhotra attended a screening of her movie Mrs. at the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne last month. Nothing in her arsenal prepared her for the goosebump-invoking fanfare from an audience marvelled at what they had just watched. Malhotra was met with a standing ovation—a moment that filled her with tears.
“When I first watched Mrs. I was quite proud and happy with the final product. It’s a film with a very strong message. The Indian Film Festival in Melbourne marked the first time I was watching it with an audience. I was quite nervous to see their reaction. But I was blown away by the response. I was so happy to see how people were connecting with the character and the film,” she says, a glint of pride in her eyes. The film, directed by Arati Kadav, is an adaptation of the Malayalam movie The Great Indian Kitchen and follows the complex journey of Richa, a trained dancer and teacher who is compelled to navigate through the challenges of being a wife while still finding her path and voice. Mrs. is a labour of love, yes—but as Malhotra recalls, it shaped up to be an intensely emotional experience to play out the lived experience of millions of women in the country.
Like Mrs., Malhotra’s filmography, from its very inception, has been pleasantly replete with characters and plot twists working in favour of the modern Indian woman. At a time when it appears hard to separate blatant misogyny and sexism from real and reel or when debates about the kind of social impact a film tends to create seem rampant, Malhotra remains conscious of the type of roles and characters she chooses to play. “Whenever I choose a character or a film, my values and my politics are always at the forefront. However, as an actor, my main objective at the end of the day is to entertain the audience. Yet, I am naturally drawn to characters that empower me. I want the audience to feel that, too. And I honestly think that I’m very lucky with the kind of films that I get approached for and the kind of characters that I have done till now,” she shares.
“I love everything about being a woman,” declares Malhotra. In a world burdened with stereotypes and labels of how a woman must look, behave and even feel, Malhotra considers herself fortunate to have been able to embrace her body with confidence. “I have always been very confident with my looks and my body. Of course, the credit also goes to my parents and the people around me, who are all very comfortable in their skin. I have this natural confidence in me, and I love how unique my hair and body is,” she says.“ Whether it’s how emotional we are, how we handle situations, or how we approach our work and our personal lives, we have a natural ability to nurture. I love female friendships and the sisterhood I’m surrounded with.” Lensed in Irth’s Easy Edit collection alongside True False’s contemporary repertoire of new-age fits, Sanya finds it easy to embody the roles assigned to her, be it sartorially or cinematically. The Irasva jewels come in handy to lend that shine and seamlessly compliment her star quality to the nines.
Malhotra’s presence on screen is powerful, and her characters remain etched in one’s memory long after a visit to the silver screen. Her choices have won her accolades, as well as commercial and critical acclaim—a Best Actor award at the New York Film Festival, which is the most recent. Yet, for much of her career, Malhotra has found herself caught in an overwhelmingly exhausting web of imposter syndrome. The actor has often opened up about being too harsh on herself, almost entirely unforgiving for the mistakes she’s made, and feeling like an imposter amidst and behind the glory and glamour of Bollywood. “I think I’m still a work in progress. I envy people who do not have imposter syndrome,” she says, “I hope I have a more concrete solution to deal with this in a few months.”
As she comes into her own, she remains both weary and comfortable with the idea and demands of being a celebrity. “I am pretty comfortable with everything that comes with being a celebrity—whether it’s social media or the paparazzi,” she says, acknowledging its deep-rooted penetration into our lives. “But I have very strong boundaries between my work and personal life. I think that boundaries can get blurred quite easily with the kind of attention actors get constantly, which I’m quite grateful for, but I don’t want it to get to my head. So I’m very careful with that, and also, since my friends and my family are not from the industry, that is something that keeps me grounded,” Malhotra shares.
A mere glance at her Instagram reveals a side to Malhotra that goes beyond the world of films—one where she finds joy in the big, little moments of life and seeks both solace and inspiration in art and travel. “It helps me connect with myself,” she says. “Art and travel helps me connect with myself. I am also surrounded by artists—my best friend is an artist. She does graphic designing, and the one thing that we love doing is going and seeing art in any form. Simple things like going to a museum, watching cinema, and having good conversations with other artists inspire me a lot. I think art makes our world a better place to live.”
I sat at my desk, replaying my conversation with Malhotra; the incessant downpour emanating petrichor, Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten and Malhotra’s words frequented with a peal of gentle laughter evoked a sense of warmth, comfort and romanticism. Her journey and life’s experiences are filled with lessons, love, and in-between moments that make you smile. Yet the end of our conversation leaves me with perhaps the most important lesson of them all. Speaking about her love for movement, she says, “When I dance, I am truly expressing myself. It leaves my body feeling light and stress-free,” she says. Instantly, I’m reminded of the quote, ‘The rule is you have to dance a little bit before you walk out in the world because it changes the way you walk.’ “Dancing in my room a little bit every day keeps me sane, happy and brings out my inner child,” she says with a wide smile.
ELLE India Editor: Ainee Nizami Ahmedi, Photographer: Arjun Mark, Creative Director & Creative Producer: Priyadarshini Patwa, Stylist: Stacey Cardoz, Words by: Maahi Shah, Hair and Make-up artist: Natasha Mathias Dsouza, Assisted By: Nishtha Aagarwal (styling) , Janvi Shau (HMU), Production: Nafromax Productions, Executive produced by: Deepti Hiranandani and Aanchal Jain.
