Ananya Panday shuns perception of catfights in Bollywood: Sara, Janhvi and I constantly try to be there for each other

After spending over five years in Bollywood, actor Ananya Panday doesn’t understand the narrative around pitting women against each other. Instead, she feels there is space for strong female friendships in showbiz, which she cherishes with her colleagues Sara Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor. Also read: Ananya Panday reveals whether Bollywood stars were paid to attend Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding

She has shared that she tries to not miss any chance to be there for her friends Sara and Janhvi.

Ananya Panday’s view

During a conversation in Prime Video’s Maitri: Female First Collective, Ananya emphasised on the importance of building a supportive environment for her contemporaries. She shared that she believed in the power of female friendships.

Recounting her initial years as a woman in the industry, she shared, “I think I’ve become a lot more vocal about what I stand for. What keeps me going is seeing change; knowing that speaking up or even through cinema you can actually make an impact. Even if one young girl comes up to me and says I am myself because you are yourself and I feel comfortable in my skin, for me that’s where I have done my job. I think seeing change is a huge reason why I keep going”.

Ananya added, “They keep pitting women against each other, actresses against actresses, but with Sara and Janhvi it’s not a very conscious attempt, we constantly try to be there for each other and support each other very publicly, so that we are showing people this is how female friendships are supposed to be like, don’t believe any other way.”

Ananya Panday’s work file

Ananya entered Bollywood with Student of the Year 2 in 2019. She went on to star in films such as Khaali Peeli, Gehraiyaan, Dream Girl 2, and Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan. She was most recently seen in the web show, Call Me Bae, which was recently released on Prime Video.

The comedy-drama series is co-written by Ishita Moitra, Samina Motlekar, and Rohit Nair, and directed by Colin D’Cunha. The show also features Muskkaan Jaferi, Gurfateh Pirzada, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Varun Sood, Vihaan Samat, Vir Das, Mini Mathur, Riya Sen, Suchitra Pillai, Sayani Gupta, Karishma Tanna, and others in pivotal roles. Call Me Bae is co-produced by Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Somen Mishra under Dharmatic Entertainment.