Within five years of her career in Hindi cinema, Ananya Panday has now carved a niche for herself in the industry. Her latest choice of projects, witty interviews and how she remains vocal about social issues, say it all. The young star recently credited her mom, Bhavana Pandey for choosing Vikramaditya Motwane’s CTRL. Ananya recalled that the actress felt ‘over the moon’ when she agreed to do the film.

In a new interview with Hindustan Times, Ananya Panday spilled the beans about wishing to work with Vikramaditya Motwane even before her career began in 2019. Ananya shared that it happened as her mom, The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives star Bhavana Pandey was obsessed with Motwane’s 2010 film, Udaan.

Recalling what Bhavana told her about Udaan, the CTRL star stated that whenever The Fabulous Lives… actress watches it, she cries “without fail”. Despite knowing the climax, Bhavana gets emotional every time, the young star added.

“That’s why when he offered me the film, I was over the moon and so excited to be able to work with him. I’m so happy that one of his films is part of my filmography also,” the CTRL actress said.

Ananya Panday made her debut with Karan Johar’s directorial, Student of the Year 2 in 2019. Ananya was cast alongside Tiger Shroff and then-newcomer Tara Sutaria in SOTY 2. It was a sequel to Student of the Year (2010), starring Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, and Sidharth Malhotra as leads.

Vikramaditya Motwane started his career as an assistant to Sanjay Leela Bhansali in movies like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. Vikramaditya helmed his debut film, Udaan in 2010 which starred Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, and Ram Kapoor.

The filmmaker has also directed movies like Lootera, Trapped, Bhavesh Joshi: Superhero, and AK vs AK. As a producer, he has worked in films such as Hasee Toh Phasee, Queen, NH10, Udta Punjab, Raman Raghav 2.0, Manmarziyaan, and others.

Ananya Panday’s CTRL premiered on Netflix on October 4, 2024. It also stars Vihaan Samat of Mismatched fame. In the cyber-thriller film, Ananya plays the role of Nalini Awasthi aka Nella and Vihaan is cast as her boyfriend, Joe Mascarenhas.

After shouldering movies like Ulajh, Mili, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, and others, Janhvi Kapoor made a big Telugu debut opposite Jr. NTR in the recently released film, Devara: Part 1. Janhvi’s BFF Ananya Panday has now praised her for Jr. NTR-starrer Devara: Part 1 amid criticism. Ananya discussed how the audience believes that commercial cinema is easy.

In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Ananya Panday opened up about how young actresses are subjected to the “3 scenes and 3 songs” strategy in Indian cinema. Ananya defended Janhvi Kapoor by stressing her hard work in Devara: Part 1.

“People believe that doing commercial cinema is very easy, but it’s also an art to perform a certain way,”  the CTRL star said. The 25-year-old actress praised Janhvi saying that she was amazing in her recent song, Daavudi from JR. NTR’s film. She called the latter’s expressions “great” and highlighted that her energy was “outstanding”.

The Call Me Bae star concluded it by saying that it is an equally hard job. This comes after the audience expressed disappointment over Janhvi’s brief role in Devara: Part 1.

Directed by Koratala Siva, Devara: Part 1 was released in theaters on September 27, 2024. The film starred Jr. NTR as a lead in dual roles, Devara and his son, Varadha. Janhvi Kapoor played Varadha’s love interest, Thangam. The Siva’s directorial also starred Saif Ali Khan, Zarina Wahab, Prakash Raj, Shruti Marathe, and others.

Janhvi Kapoor started her acting career with Shashank Khaitan’s 2018 film, Dhadak. She was paired with Ishaan Khatter in the movie. Janhvi has become one of the most promising actresses in her six-year-long career in Bollywood. Her other movies include Good Luck Jerry, Bawaal, and Roohi.

Janhvi will now be seen in Khaitan’s directorial, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari. She will be paired with her Bawaal co-star Varun Dhawan in it. The upcoming film is scheduled to hit the screens in 2025.

Meanwhile, Ananya Panday is currently basking in the success of her recently released film, CTRL. Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the cyber-thriller film also features Vihaan Samat in the lead role. Ananya made her OTT debut with Karan Johar’s production, Call Me Bae last month.