Hailing from Delhi and working in Mumbai, actor Sanya Malhotra admits that the two cities have had a huge influence on her fashion sense. “I have a very bipolar sense of fashion. I am a Delhi girl, so there, I like to dress up, do make up and be proper even if I am stepping out for five minutes. In Mumbai, I become much more relaxed and easy going with my fashion sense,” she shares, adding that her friends from Delhi got a huge shock seeing her clothes in Mumbai. “They’d be like ‘oh, you look very simple’, and that too with a negative connotation. I did the biggest sin when I wore chappals to Khan Market in Delhi. Now, I am much more aware, I know what I like to wear, but I am still trying to find my personal style,” she says.
The actor insists that “fashion gives you the opportunity to express yourself in a different way”, and she had been “missing that for a long time”. Malhotra asserts that her off-screen persona differs from her real personality and even her audience acknowledges that: “People don’t recognise me if I go out with straight hair. There are so many actors in Bollywood who look almost the same in all their characters, and I think they are doing the right thing as there is a recall value to it. But I can’t do that.”
While for many actors their characters might influence their style in real life, for the 32-year-old, it’s the reverse. “I used to get my own clothes on set for Badhaai Ho (2018), and that I keep doing whenever I want to add a personal touch to my characters. In the start of my career, I was invited to an event and I didn’t have money to afford a stylist. So, I wore something out of my closet, and I got good ratings for it. I wear my own clothes for events, and I don’t mind repeating clothes. I look the best when I style myself,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}While for many actors their characters might influence their style in real life, for the 32-year-old, it’s the reverse. “I used to get my own clothes on set for Badhaai Ho (2018), and that I keep doing whenever I want to add a personal touch to my characters. In the start of my career, I was invited to an event and I didn’t have money to afford a stylist. So, I wore something out of my closet, and I got good ratings for it. I wear my own clothes for events, and I don’t mind repeating clothes. I look the best when I style myself,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}Ask her how her roles have established her as an actor first and Malhotra says, “I always wanted to become an actor. My intention was never to become a star, so I am not running behind a title.” Early on in her journey, the actor has led films from the front, be it Pagglait (2021) or Kathal (2023), and Malhotra insists that it gave her a lot of confidence. “I didn’t believe in myself when I signed Pagglait and I actually didn’t want to do it as I didn’t have the confidence to pull it off. I told my team that we should meet Guneet (Monga, producer) and say no. But the kind of confidence Guneet and Umesh (Shukla, director) sir had in me, I thought of giving it a try. I am glad I did it as that success gave me a lot of confidence to pick up films like Kathal and Mrs.”