Anupriya Goenka recalls not getting work calls for six months after success of Tiger Zinda Hai, Padmaavat: ‘Was unsure of what was happening’

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Anupriya Goenka said the films made her a known face across the industry, but she soon found herself in a strange situation where her work calls dipped for the next six months.

“These films put me on the map, but for the next six months, I didn’t get any calls! I remember being very unsure of what was happening. As an actor, if I didn’t have work before, I at least used to have several auditions. I used to give 10-12 auditions a day!”

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Anupriya said when she is busy giving auditions, she feels like she is at least at “work” and ultimately also gets a chance to sharpen her craft– which wasn’t happening back then, as people thought post the blockbuster success of the two films, which released just a month apart from each other, she would have changed.

“I realised that people started thinking, ‘Oh now she will charge more! Or she will have more work.’ All that change happens. A lot of people told me later that it takes time for the effect of a major change to show up. It rarely happens overnight, it didn’t with me. But its impact was definitely there, as after six months things did change for me.”

The actor followed the two films with her third big release, Hrithik Roshan’s War in 2019, which also went on to be a blockbuster. Anupriya recalled telling her associate while working in Padmaavat that if she has to do 12 auditions a day again after this, “then I will pack up.”

“Because I did that for five years and I know I have had my journey there, so I will aim at something else. Now I am at the stage where casting agents offer me to send a self-test but I insist on coming and auditioning because I miss that, face to face! I am very happy with the way things are and where I am heading.”

The actor will be next seen in the action thriller series Sultan Of Delhi. The Disney Plus Hostar show is directed by Milan Luthria. Anupriya said when the show was offered to her she “fell in love” with the expansive, immersive world of the series and also her “dark” character of Shankari.

“I was very intrigued with Milan sir’s cinema, but meeting him made me feel that it was a very democratic space to be in. It was a beautiful, comfortable meeting because we had a very clear discussion about everything. He was happy to answer my questions. There was no chance of me giving it a second thought at all,” she added.

Sultan Of Delhi, co-directed and co-written by Suparn Verma, will stream on Disney Plus Hotstar from October 13. The show also stars Tahir Raj Bhasin, Mouni Roy, Vinay Pathak, Harleen Sethi, Anjum Sharma and Nishant Dahiya.