Father's Day Special | Sanjana Sanghi says she is a mirror image of her dad

In our special series leading to Father's Day, actor Sanjana Sanghi and her dad Sandeep talk about their bond.

Actor Sanjana Sanghi started working at the young age of 13, and ever since, there has been no turning back. While Sanjana’s mother, Shagun Sanghi, accompanied her to every shoot until she was a minor, it was her father, Sandeep Sanghi, who held the fort at their Delhi home, even looking after her brother, Sumer.

Sanjana Sanghi with her father Sandeep Sanghi.

The actor calls her father a “complete girl dad” for his constant presence in her life. Meanwhile, Sandeep (61), an investor by profession, says there is a lot of similarity between him and his daughter: “Sanji and I are very similar temperamentally. Frankness, speaking one’s mind, enjoying to be innovative in our thought process and working style, and being sensitive are the similarities between us.”

Sanjana agrees as she says, “My friends call me a mini-Sandeep. I am a mirror reflection of my father temperamentally. My dadi was Punjabi and we are very mooh fatt. Whatever is in our heart we say it and we don’t know how to curate our thoughts. I have got that from my dad! Also, my being very emotionally sensitive, I get that from him. If he feels love or hurt he really feels it and I have got it from him.”

Having his daughter enter the film industry as a teenager could be daunting for any father, but not for Sandeep. Sanjana says, “He never had apprehensions about me. He always said that as long as I am working hard and being honest to myself he has always let me fly.”

Sandeep adds, “Sanji’s been working since Rockstar when she was only 13. So, mostly the worry has been that she’d exhaust herself because of her commitment to both cinema and academia through school and college. But as she went about giving her auditions growing up, we realised that there are a whole lot of good opportunities and people among whom she’d thrive.”

The father-daughter duo also share the same academic background. Like his daughter, Sandeep is an alumnus of Modern School, New Delhi. He later completed his graduation from Kirori Mal College.

Sandeep ventured from running a kebab joint to managing a floriculture business, and is now an investor. But his work never stop him from spending quality time with his daughter. Recalling some of his favourite memories with her, he says, “Sanj are I used to play cricket along with my son on our terrace.” Flaunting his daughter’s cricket prowess, the proud father adds, “I remember her always wanting to be a part of the game with the boys, bowling right arm pace and batting left handed with a great sense of timing!”

“I remember making her learn how to swim when she was 4-5 years old and carrying her own my shoulders. I would throw her into the water and call her a ‘My little mermaid’!” he signs off.