Sonakshi Sinha says she never visited dad Shatrughan Sinha’s film sets, reveals she was not ‘groomed’ to be an actor: ‘I was literally thrown into…’

Sonakshi Sinha also talked about starting her career with typical commercial films, and said that they added to her growth as an actor.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | March 7, 2024 09:47 AM IST

3 min read

Sonakshi Sinha will next be seen in Heeramandi. (Photo: Sonakshi/Instagram)

Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha, who will next be seen in Netflix’s Heeramandi, has opened up about her journey in the film industry. She recalled starting completely from scratch, without any experience on a film set, or formal training in acting or dancing, despite being veteran star Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter. The actor also revealed why she chose to do commercial films like Dabangg at the start of her career.

At the 24th edition of FICCI Frames, Sonakshi said, “I have grown throughout my profession. I’ve learned through experience. I started off completely from scratch. I had no experience of being on a film set. I used to not visit my dad’s sets when I was a child. I had no training, whether it was acting or dancing or anything. I was not groomed for it and I was literally thrown into the deep end of the pool and said ‘okay now swim, and that’s how I learned’.”

Sonakshi said that she cherishes every experience that she has had. She added that every person she worked with contributed to her growth, leading her to a point where someone like Sanjay Leela Bhansali had the confidence to offer her a role as complex as Farida in Heeramandi. Sonakshi said, “So, when SLB sir came to me with Heeramandi, I was like ‘Thank you for imagining me like this’.”

The actor added, “I’ve been working for the last 14 years and I’ve done all sorts of roles. I started off with these really commercial masala films where it was always about the hero, the hero, the hero. Which I’m not complaining about. It really gave me an audience. It gave me a far and wide reach. It gave me confidence. When I was able to kind of shoulder films on my own, that’s when I started playing really strong female characters, which were different from the others.”

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Sonakshi made her acting debut in 2010 with Dabangg opposite Salman Khan. She went on to star in films like Akira and Noor, among others. Heermandi also stars Manisha Koirala, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sharmin Segal.

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