Deepika Padukone inspired me as a younger female actor to make a change: Ananya Panday

Actor Ananya Panday has praised Deepika Padukone and called her “Gehraiyaan” co-star an inspiring personality who stands up for every person on set in a “polite way”.

Recalling their time working on Shakun Batra’s 2022 relationship drama, Ananya said Deepika has since helped her speak her mind in a more confident and assured manner.

“When I started out in the industry, I didn’t really know that one could really stand up and reinforce what they want. I used to simply do what I was asked to do. Deepika is a woman who stands up for every person on the set, in a very polite way.

“Whenever a girl speaks up she is called bossy, or difficult to work with, but she used to convey her needs in a very polite and empathetic way, which made me realise that there is a way in which you can do this,” the “Call Me Bae” star said during the ‘O Womaniya! 2024’ roundtable.

Going forward, Ananya said the experience of closely working with Deepika empowered her to become “more conscious” about her choices.

“Deepika inspired me as a younger female actress to go on further to make a change. Now I do speak up when I am not comfortable doing certain things or saying certain things, because I don’t want a young girl to be spoken to in a certain manner because I am being shown like that on-screen,” she added.

Also part of the roundtable were actors Richa Chadha, Parvathy Thiruvothu, filmmakers Batra, Nikkhil Advani, writer Ishita Moitra, and Stuti Ramachandra, director & head of production, International Originals, Prime Video, India.