On-screen moments, off-screen memories: Sanya Malhotra shares it all
Can you believe Sanya Malhotra is already 14 films old? Follow her sidestep to Bollywood as she maps her memorable roles and what went down off-screen
In India, ECA-quota students are a special breed. They enrol for the Extra Curricular Activities in college. They spend their hours away from the desk, drawing, debating, rehearsing soliloquies, getting the music-room piano to work. Teachers tell them they’re doomed to fail in life. They, however do fine. Many grow up to wow everyone with skills they honed off the books. And once in a generation, an ECA student might blossom into someone like Sanya Malhotra.
The student from Delhi University’s Gargi College was a member of Sparks, the on-campus dance society. In her third year, she picked up ballet, and started teaching dance after graduation. “I loved what I did and was home by 2pm,” says Malhotra, 31. A career in dance was Plan A. Because Plan B was acting and she believed it was never going to happen. So, she kept it a secret.
Secrets hate being boxed up. They get restless. So when Malhotra landed in Mumbai in 2015 for a project that didn’t work out, she took her chance and auditioned for a film role. She loved the city. Her father, an Indian Army consultant, was supportive. But her mum was sceptical -- more than 100 women were vying for the same spot. But the ECA gods were kind: That first-ever audition landed her the role of wrestler Babita Phogat in Dangal (2016). The film did well. Malhotra earned nominations for her debut. It was hard to keep Plan B a secret.
Nearly a decade and 14 films later, Malhotra has excelled in playing the supportive partner of a man who’s discovered his mother is suddenly pregnant (Badhaai Ho, 2018). She played Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s wife-to-be in Photograph (2019). She appeared as the stoic but vulnerable wife of a brave armyman in Sam Bahadur (2023). She was one half of the long-distance newlywed couple in Meenakshi Sundareshwar (2021).
Malhotra has slowly made herself known, on both sides of the screen, as Ms Reliable. We’ve been fans ever since she uploaded a clip of her falling while dancing on the sets of Badhaai Ho (2018). It’s all part of the job. Here, in retrospect are the roles that she says defined her career.
Chhutki in Pataakha (2018): Director Vishal Bhardwaj dropped by the sets of Badhaai Ho to meet Malhotra and set up her audition for the role of the brash younger sibling Chuttki for Pataakha. The film is based on Charan Singh Pathik’s short story Do Behnein. After reading the scene, Malhotra asked if she could give the character bite and spite instead. “That’s why auditions are crucial,” Malhotra says. “I was out of my comfort zone with Chhutki, so pulling it off gave me the confidence boost I needed.” Her younger-sibling energy is so strong, it’s hard to believe she doesn’t quarrels about everything IRL.
Sandhya in Pagglait (2021): Malhotra’s career kind of took off after this film, in which she plays a widow who didn’t really know her husband, can’t grieve for him but must face a judgemental community through it all. “When I was offered the film, my first thought was that it’s too early in my career to play the lead,” Malhotra recalls. “I was scared and felt like I shouldn’t do it. Guneet [Monga, the producer] gave me the confidence to agree to it and was there every step of the way. Getting into character came easy after that and there was an upwards shift in my career after it’s release.”
Mahima Basor in Kathal (2023): What drew Malhotra to the plot was how cleverly the satire about abduction of women laid bare India’s corruption, power play and cover-ups. It also exposed Malhotra to a world she says she didn’t know existed. “Observing how the police handles cases in which women,around the age of 18, go missing, was an eye opener,” she says. “I realised how sheltered our lives in big cities are.” In one scene, a gardener attempts to file a missing-person’s report for his daughter. The constable dismissively tells him that she must have run away with a man. “That retort is a reality in India,” she says. It’s also the film that changed her idea of women in law enforcement. “I would take a masculine approach to the character, displaying the sense of confidence that swoops in when you wear the uniform. But when I met the female police official from Gwalior I was tailing, I loved her soft mannerisms and how feminine she looked. And so, Mahima was just that: someone who did her makeup and wore earrings to work.”
Dr Eeram in Jawan (2023): Of course, the highlight was sharing space with SRK. “I know all the dialogues from Kal Ho Na Ho. So, working with him was an incredible learning experience,” gushes Malhotra. She’s found that she loves the thing most actors detest: Endless promotions. “I love giving interviews and I celebrate being a part of the film. It’s a shift that happened post Covid. I’ve realised how important it is to not be worried before a film’s release. I tell myself that the film is not mine, but the audience’s.”
Sanya’s favourite off-screen moments:
That tumble. “I’m quite clumsy. So, falling on set isn’t unusual for me,” says Malhotra, who posted a clip of her fall on the sets of Badhaai Ho (2018), right before the first take of the song Morni Banke. Malhotra slipped on a freshly polished floor while she was already nursing a two-week old broken toe. “My co-actor, Ayushmann Khurrana, got quite the fright, but I laughed as soon as I fell. My friends made fun of me and I’m now their favourite meme. It’s good to make situations like these light and funny. Things happen,” she says.
Fangirl forever. Two years ago, around 8pm on the last day of the shoot in Chennai for Jawan, we got news that Rajnikanth sir was going to visit. I remember getting dressed up in a sari, waiting for the moment excitedly. When Shah Rukh Khan introduced me to Rajni sir, he said he remembered meeting me during the special screening of Dangal seven years ago.
Comedy of errors. In the same film, one scene depicts Malhotra’s character visiting Khurrana’s house for the first time. As Malhotra’s gaze fell on the clock to be used in the scene, she wondered out loud, “Why am I here at 7am?”. Actor Gajraj Rao took her aside and started telling her about how actors should be punctual and adhere to the call time. “The conversation went on until Neena Gupta intervened and clarified that I was talking about my character in the movie. We still have a good laugh about it,” Malhotra recalls.
Soul sister. About six years ago, while shooting for Pataakha (2018) Malhotra found her work soulmate in Radhika Madan. They would meditate together every morning. “And that showed on set, we worked well together. In one scene we were a little too serious while fighting with each other, which made everyone laugh. Even today, we call each other to check if either has discovered the magic we found on the sets of Pataakha. So far, nope.”
Life changer. For her upcoming release, Mrs, Malhotra plays a married woman who rediscovers herself while conquering the kitchen. Malhotra and director, Arati Kadav, interviewed multiple women to prep for the story. “It was life changing. It’s hard to explain that cooking isn’t just a women’s job. It’s a life skill you need to know in order to survive,” says Malhotra.
