Anushka Sharma birthday: Did you know Aditya Chopra told her she was ‘not the most good-looking’ before signing her?

Anushka Sharma is one of the biggest Bollywood stars in the country right now. As she turns 32, here is looking back at how she landed her debut film, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Anushka Sharma got every struggler’s dream launch when she made her debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Today, she is one of the most sought-after actors in Bollywood, with a production house of her own.

Happy Birthday Anushka Sharma!

As Anushka turns 32, let us revisit her incredible journey. Shortly after the release of Band Baaja Baaraat, she came on Koffee With Karan, and shared the story of how she bagged her first film despite being ‘not the most good-looking girl’.

“I was on the fourth floor, in Aditya Chopra’s office. He just said, ‘Listen, I have a lot of belief in your talent. I think you are a very talented actress but I don’t think you are very good-looking. You’re not the most good-looking girl, so you have to make sure that you work really hard. You’re on for Taani (her character in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi),’” she said.

Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

What was ‘more overwhelming’ for Anushka was that Aditya offered her a three-film deal, based purely on her talent. “When I left the office, I was very cool. I said thank you and I was very proper,” she said, adding that it was when she was driving back home that the enormity of it all hit her.

“At one point, I stopped the car because I realised I was crying. I was crying so much. My parents were not in town, so I called my mom and I said, ‘I can’t believe this is happening right now,’” she said. Anushka went on to say that she faced a lot of rejections in her modelling career, so she could not believe her luck when she landed the lead role in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Anushka revealed that before she met Aditya, she was ‘very pretty’, in her head. She said, “I used to think I am very, very good-looking. Like, ‘Haan, haan, aise toh main bhi lag sakti hoon (Yeah, yeah, even I can look like this).’ If I just have the right make-up and right hair and all that. It’s only after I met Aditya Chopra that I saw myself on the monitor for the first time while shooting... I was in the dulhan ka joda (bridal attire). I saw myself the first time on screen and I was like, ‘He is right. I am not that good-looking.’”

What tilted the scales in Anushka’s favour was that she was not ‘desperate’ to be cast in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. “What Adi told me is that I was the only girl out of all the girls he auditioned, who wasn’t so desperate to be in this film. And he wanted that quality in a girl. She had to be really easy,” she shared.

Though Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was a hit at the box office, it did not make Anushka an overnight star. She was catapulted to stardom only after the release of her third film, Band Baaja Baaraat, and has gone on to deliver hits such as PK, Sultan, NH10 and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil since then.

Even though Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was a hit, it was Band Baaja Baaraat that got Anushka Sharma noticed.

With NH10, Anushka ventured into production, becoming one of the youngest leading ladies to do so. She also produced Phillauri and Pari under her banner, Clean Slate Films, and has a host of digital productions in the pipeline.

Anushka has not signed a film since Zero, which released in 2018, but continues to be busy with her productions, endorsements and clothing line.

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