Anchal Singh on life after Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein: ‘No longer have to knock at door of directors and prove my talent’

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Saurabh Shukla and Anchal Singh in Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein.

Anchal Singh began her acting journey with several TV commercials in which she shared screen space with the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Hrithik Roshan, and Sonakshi Sinha. She got her big break with the Sri Lankan film Sri Siddhartha Gautama, where she played Princess Yashodhara. It became the highest-grosser in Sri Lankan film history, and gave Singh “huge exposure” and her first Best Actress Award. However, back in India, things remained difficult. “Though it (Sri Siddhartha Gautama) was a successful film, I was back to giving auditions and looking for opportunities. I shifted to Mumbai with an understanding that nothing comes easy to you,” the young star shared.

In hope of “better opportunities” after Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, Singh has hopped on to her next project, Undekhi 2. The first season of the SonyLIV show marked Singh’s OTT debut. It, however, had little for her to do. In the second season, which streams from March 4, her character Teji will take on the cold-blooded and powerful Atwals who are ready to kill at the drop of a hat.

Anchal Singh reveals the journey of Teji made her sign on the dotted line. “There are a lot of layers to her journey. It is a very realistic, inspiring and interesting journey. It is a journey of the self because her values and her sense of system is shaken by her father and husband itself. Now how this girl fights with herself and with the world is what makes Teji an interesting character,” Singh stated.

On the face of it, Teji and Purva look quite similar, but Singh believes the only thing that is common between them is their “passion”. She asserted, “Teji comes from a family of respect and morality. She needs to go by what society thinks is right. That’s not the case for Purva. She wanted what she wanted by hook or by crook. While Purva was powerful, Teji is not powerful. Instead, she is fighting the powerful.”

Anchal Singh has showcased varied shades of the human psyche through Teji and Purva. Going forward, she plans to “represent all perspectives and sides of women” in her upcoming projects. She shared, “I want to play characters that have various flavours to them and has a proper journey.”

Explaining her process of picking movies or shows, she said, “The most important thing for me is how does a film or a web series speak to me as an audience. I am a lover of cinema. As a child also, I used to ask my parents to tell stories at night. Since childhood, I have liked hearing stories and imagining myself in them. Whenever I listen to scripts, the artiste in me doesn’t speak. It is the child and the audience in me who reacts to it.”

Anchal Singh, who calls herself a lover of cinema, has closely followed the life and work of Dilip Kumar and Irrfan Khan. She looks up to Irrfan’s work and is also inspired by Meryl Streep. From the current lot of actors, she loves Alia Bhatt’s choice of movies and “how she brings something to the character which is different from what she has done before.” And, she has found a ‘friend, mentor and guide’ on the sets of Undekhi in actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya. “He has taught me so much. I took many tips from him during Undekhi season one. I even underwent training under him for Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein for a week. I cherish my experience of working with him,” Singh concluded.