Transcript of Adah Sharma on The Kerala Story, Backlash, Threats & Handling Rejection | Shekhar Natarajan | Tomorrow Today New

So I learned acting at quite a young age because I used to do it in real life.

It's AI with a conscience. And the second one is building a community of what a good human looks like.

So Kerala story, I think, enters the room before I enter the room now. And yeah, you can't not know what it is.

Every company wanted to compete with Amazon. You cannot be like— the David-Goliath story only works in stories.

I think AI is like fire, and it can either like burn the whole forest down or it can be used to cook food.

Welcome to yet another episode of Tomorrow Today with Shaker Natarajan. Today it's my incredible pleasure to welcome Ada Sharma. She is not only a celebrity but a great human being. And a very intriguing person, by the way. Like, you know, I— we— like, I've been researching about her during the course of the conversation. You're going to know why.

Oh my, is the pressure on?

But, um, a wonderful human being. And I'm also— you know, she also has a sister here, by the way. Like, if you haven't seen the sister, a sister does exist, a mother does exist, uh, for all of you to know. Uh, Ada, welcome to the show.

Thank you so much. Thank you for telling people that I have a family that exists. They don't like being in front of the camera. Even my mom, uh, is not. And then there was some speculation about her existing or not, and people were like, maybe she doesn't exist. So no, I have— I have—

You've got a family.

Yeah, a few of them coexist.

Good. So, um, let's actually go back to the origin days of your family, right? Like, you know, it's a very interesting background that you have. I was reading about your father, mother, and the makeup of your family and other things. I wanted to understand a little bit about them because most of the times, you know, the apple never falls far from the tree. And like some of the values and virtues that you actually possess come through their encoding, right? So I want to understand who you are as a person, the formative days. Where did you live? What happened to you?

Oh my, this feels like a therapy session.

You know, by the way, like—

This actually feels feel like a therapy session.

No, seriously, I have—

No, in a good— not in a bad way, in a good way only. Podcasts nowadays are the new therapy session that you put out for everyone, for everyone to watch, right?

No, no, but I think this is unlike any other podcast. So I'll give you the reason why we do this podcast. So in, uh, 2020, my son was born, and my son looks exactly like my father, okay? And so I'm a late bloomer and this fellow was born. And when I held him, the only thing I could feel was my father's soul in my son. And my father used to deliver telegrams in Hyderabad. And basically my mother was not as educated. She used to work for Deccan Chronicle. Like when she started, she used to wrap like newspapers to be delivered next day morning.

Wow.

That's where we started. And I lived in slums in India, the second biggest one. And so, uh, but all the good karma they, um, had, uh, done in their life despite being very poor, uh, and being very challenged, um, you know, came as a, as a blessing to me. And my thinking was, can I capture the essence and the soul of my parents and everyone who helped me, which are numerous of those people in my life? And if I could like put them in technology and amplify goodness, that would be the greatest gift I would give for my son.

Oh, that's beautiful.

And so I started that journey. And as part of the journey, you know, we are building a capability and the capability is like broken into 2 halves. It's AI with a conscience. And the second one is building a community of what a good human looks like. And so bringing interesting people, understanding what makes them up, who they are, because all we see is the glamor and the glitter and everything that is very external, but we don't understand how they evolve as people. So that's essentially what we try to capture as part of the show.

How lovely. Since it's divided into 2 parts, I think I'll be put into the AI part. A lot of people think I'm AI also. So I think the AI with a conscience is a nice—

That's a bit better way of putting it.

I like it. Otherwise it's just AI. A lot of my videos people see and they say AI. Some dance video we put recently and I had really worked hard and people were like, AI, can't tell now. So if you look like you've done a little hard work, sometimes it gets passed off as AI. But I like this, AI with a conscience is so nice.

Yes, yes, yes.

And scary also, but, uh, it is nice.

So it— the world without it is scary. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about your, uh, background, upbringing.

Ask me everything you want to know. Yeah.

So father is Merchant Navy.

Yes.

And, uh, Tamil Brahmin.

Yes.

And mother is Malayali, half Malayali and half—

Yeah, she's a little Italian and half Malayali. But because, uh, my mom's mom is from Kerala, so, uh, I don't know, we just felt closer to Kerala roots since I met that whole side of her family. And my granddad is, uh, he was— I consider myself like, uh, half Italian. No, half of him, because he could pick languages up like that. Like, he spoke Marathi fluently, he spoke Tamil fluently, he spoke Malayalam fluently. And without anyone having the accent of the other. So when he spoke Marathi, you'd think it's a Maharashtrian speaking because he had light eyes and he was really fair. So you'd think he's a Maharashtrian. When he spoke Malayalam, his accent was impeccable. So I was very inspired by him from when I was a kid. And I always thought if you speak one accent, he told me, never let the other accent flow into this one.

Super. So, and you guys, like, you were born in—

No, I was born— I actually didn't move my house since birth. I've been staying in the same house. just moved like 2-3 years back, but till then I was staying in the same house. It got renovated and we were in the same place.

Where was this, in Pali?

Pali.

And, uh, growing up, what was your childhood like?

Pretty much like any other, but, uh, I think I realized very young that whenever anyone is a little different or not very doing mediocre things, people don't really accept you. And then when I was a kid, I thought, uh, I was for a while without too many friends, human friends. And—

What did you have then?

Robotic friends? Animal friends. Animal friends, trees, plants, nature friends. But kids are not— kids are like adults only. And if someone is a little different— so I decided to pretend and be mediocre then for everybody so that I can make a lot of friends then. And so I learned acting at quite a young age because I used to do it in real life. And then I realized, oh, so if you are like everybody else, then everyone really likes you. It's very nice and convenient. And then when I became an actor also, I did it for a while, and then I was like, I'll get back to myself. So, uh, yeah, so then I don't know, it's just exhausting, I think, auditioning at all times for life, for real people in the world. And when you stop auditioning in real life, it's so peaceful. And when you just do what you want to do, other than when it's a character, then I think you should— Uh, commit. Not that, I'm talking about in real life as a person. So yeah, my childhood was pretty much exactly how adulthood is. I don't see any change. I do the same things I used to do then.

Uh, actually no change, like really.

Very interesting. So, so you were acting like from age 3?

No, not from age 3. I think from when I was like, uh, 4th standard. Till then I didn't. I was, uh, like first in class and first in sports and first in competitions and first in everything. And then I realized, but people don't like me when I'm first in everything. So should I just be first in everything or just be like third? And then everyone likes you a lot. So if you just mess up a paper a little and don't be perfect, then you have more friends. So I did that. I did that for a bit. I was a very good student then, but then I used to be like third and not first, just for convenience.

So very funny. So, and then, uh, uh, your father was in Merchant Navy. So was he around you guys all the time or like?

No, he used to do like 8 months, 6 months, and be home.

How often do you used to see him?

Like once in— I mean, not once in a year. He used to be there for 6 months and then go for a year. He was around though. It's not that he was never around.

And like, so how, like growing up, like what attributes do you attribute to your father, your mother, your grandparents?

I think we are more like my mom because we've hung out more with her. But yeah, like my dad, I don't know if I have attributes like him, maybe being stubborn, I guess. Like a little, you know, yeah, stone-headed a little bit. I think that's from him, maybe. He was also a very self-righteous person, and he always— not that my mom isn't, but he's someone who said, you know, like, he was not there when Kerala Study released, and I always thought that that's something he would have—

Hated?

No, loved, because he was somebody who was like, if you find someone who cannot speak for themselves and if you can give somebody a voice, voice, you should, and take a stand, and it's okay if people hate you for it. So you took a stand for somebody else. So I just thought that that's something he would have been like, wow, you had the guts to do. Like, he would be very happy with that. So, uh, yeah, he was that kind of person that if you've not done anything wrong, you don't need to be scared. That was his thing always.

Sometimes when you do that, like, you know, you get lonely too.

I don't think so.

No, not anymore.

No, no, no, not that. Uh, I feel That can never go wrong if you're doing the right thing. Now, by the right thing, I don't mean like professionally winning at everything is not the right thing. Not that. I mean the right thing in life. Even when no one's looking, if you do the right thing, I don't think it can go wrong ever. Like, I think that has a 100% success rate. With me, it's tried and tested.

Yes.

Totally. So that I like, even when no one is looking, even if nobody gets to know, even if no one— when no one is looking or they are or they might never get to know, you still stick to doing the right thing.

Then like, so now go back to age 3. So you started like, you learned dancing.

Yeah.

Uh, what else did you do?

I was very hyperactive.

How were you auditioning for the, for the 17-year-old kid who actually has to like jump into like cinema?

Like auditioning for movies or—

You were just like, you know, you were just, you learned dancing, then like what happened?

Oh, I did, but no one's given me dance, dance in a movie yet. Even the Telugu movies I've done, uh, The ones that you really know me for are Heart Attack, where there was no dance. There were 6 songs and no dance. And Kranam, which there was no song and dance. So those are the 2 movies that people know me in Telugu. And even in Hindi, I don't think I've done anything where dance is remembered. Though I've graduated in dance, that's why I got into movies. But someday, I'm sure.

So tell me, like, so 3 years you started dancing. What type of dance form did you learn?

I learned jazz ballet, gymnastics, and Kathak. separately.

Okay. And then where did you go to school? What did you do?

I went to school, uh, to Auxilium Convent. It was a convent school. Uh, so yeah, as every convent school is, we were good girls. It was an all-girls school that we went to, so I didn't know how to talk to boys till we were in— um, though our only interactions was like building friends. At least I had like those, but I didn't know how to have like an adult conversation with guys till maybe like 9th or 10th standard, and after that I didn't go to college, so then it didn't continue. And then I did movies, so I didn't know how to have an adult conversation with guys anyway, because in an all-girls school they told us if you talk to boys, you'll get pregnant. Not that we fully believed them. They really told us that. We didn't fully believe, but there was still a—

Skepticism. A little bit, yeah.

So maybe talk, but talk with Even a little distance. So yeah, yeah, that was school for us.

And so, uh, what things do you remember growing up? Like, what are the things—

I remember every day of my life, actually, from when I was around 3 and a half.

Oh, that's like a good memory.

It's not a very good thing. So I pretty much dust problems under the carpet and keep them there. I'm that kind of person. Uh, so if there's any like traumatic thing or something in my life, I dust it under the carpet and pretend it didn't happen. But I remember everything. From when I was like 3 and a half, I think I remember everything vividly.

Why do you do that?

I don't know how to forget things. Like, how does one— it's like that film reel, if you can just cut chunks of it. And so I cut chunks of the ones I don't want and slide them under the carpet, but they still are all there. It's quite a mess. Yeah, it is quite a mess, but now that's how it is.

So what do you remember, the good ones and the bad ones? Like, is there anything that you cover, like I remember everything.

So what you are— if you are like—

The most traumatic thing and the most happiest thing.

Traumatic thing, I don't even know if you can publicly discuss trauma, but, uh, happiest things I remember all, like, like the trauma ones also. But like I said, in childhood, whatever I did, I still do now. I used to still play in the mud, I still play in the mud. I used to still talk to birds, I still talk to birds. So there's nothing that I used to do that I can't do now. A lot of times they say if you become an actor, no, you can't do this and can't do that. There's nothing like that for me that I can't do. We still do everything, everything. There is nothing. I'd never have understood only that, that I can't do something. I do everything I used to before. Just now people treat me a little more importantly. And I continue doing the same things. But now I have someone who straightens my hair and who's like, okay, gives me ironed clothes and that helps. But sometimes, yeah, I'm still— I iron it myself. Yes. I know she's looking at me. I like wearing crumpled clothes. Not like, I'm just a little lazy with ironing clothes, and I feel like those crumples add some character to it.

Or I'm just lazy about it, I'm not sure. But now, then when I come to podcast, I wear ironed clothes and I have ironed hair. Other than that, nothing's changed. I think humor is also a self-defense mechanism though.

Yeah.

Which I use.

So how do you deal with trauma then?

Humor.

Through humor.

Yeah, I think it's a self-defense thing that I use everywhere.

Yeah. So do you feel lonely?

No.

You don't?

I've rarely experienced the feeling of loneliness. Yeah, she's laughing. No, I really enjoy my company. I think I'm a very awesome person to hang out with, and I really have fun hanging out with myself. And I'm very happy when I'm all alone with myself. There's so much stuff And I feel there's places I can go and people I can meet in my imagination, which is so vast and so beautiful. And it's like nobody has— there's no policing. Otherwise in life, everything has policing, you know, don't do this and don't think that. But my imagination, nobody can police and I can do what I want. So what do you imagine? Anything I want to, no, just imagine. Your imagination is just about anything. So I'm never lonely, never. I've not experienced that feeling actually.

And then like—

Other than in childhood, like I told you.

Yeah, yeah.

But when I didn't have friends. But then I made friends, so it was fine. It was overrated. A crowd of people, I think there's always times where I enjoy that. Okay, being alone and being lonely is different. Solitude.

Yeah.

So I've learned how to cut it off and experience solitude to myself. So yeah, I enjoy that. I think life is just I enjoy it. Like I said, I like my company.

Very good. So like growing up, like, did you have animals around you? Like, was there like a special coping mechanism for you?

No, I don't want to blame that on anything. I just like the company of animals and there are always animals around me. I find animals somewhere.

Yeah. What kind of animals?

Anyone will do. Like, I don't discriminate between reptilians.

Like lizards?

Yeah, but now it's difficult if I'm over here in your studio to find a lizard might be easier than finding an alligator. So I'm sure if you leave me here for the next like 15 minutes or something, I'll find something. Now there's just one leopard ka, this thing over there, like a gold leopard. But I'm sure I'll find a living, breathing something here, some insect.

There's so many of them here living and breathing.

The humans, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, them included. No, no, I do not like also. Y'all are all very nice. No, I think, yeah, so That's just something. Again, I think that's what you learn from family also. I've seen my mom like that.

Hmm.

I've seen her getting like an injured, um, a big hawk to our house once, and she was just holding it wrapped in a thin mul cloth so as not to injure it. And this huge hawk, I remember when we were really small and we just looked, and you know, they can turn their heads almost 360. So she got a hawk to our house and, you know, we looked at it and The hawk could turn his neck and probably take off her arm if he wanted to. But, uh, I think when you look at your mom being cool with them, you learn.

And your mom, like, tell, tell me more about your mom. Like, she does yoga and she does—

She does, yes. And she likes animals also.

What kind of animals? Like, all kinds?

All, all. Hers is also non-discriminatory. Insects, reptiles, uh, all of them. The worm kingdom. No, actually, worm kingdom. She's making some compost thing at home and you really need a lot of worms for that. Yeah, to do their job and make your compost.

So I do this ritual when I was like growing up. We were told to actually like release a lot of like live fish back into running water. Oh. As in like, you know, like you go get fish from the market.

You buy the ones in captivity and you leave them out there.

Leave them in the running water.

But where will we find running water?

Everywhere, wherever there's a river.

Oh, wow. Okay.

Yeah. So there's a lot of places where there's flowing water. You just release it. That way you're giving freedom to something in life. Anyway, so yeah, I grew up with the animals too. Like, you know, like I had always— like we were like, I literally, we grew up in like slum, like a single room, 8 people. where the bathroom was inside the house and, uh, the washroom was outside. And then, uh, like, you know, all 8 of us have to like shower at the same time, get out of the same—

everything.

Like, we've done all of that. And then in, in all of that, there used to be a puppy like from like the streets that we used to grow.

And then you realize oneness, I think, with everybody.

And then, uh, yeah, the loneliness never like occurred to us because like though we, though we had like, uh, our own share of sorrow and grief and like, you know, sometimes not resentment, but like you have your anxieties and paranoia about like, you know, what you have to. But we never felt that because it felt happy. That place felt happy, you know.

How lovely. Yeah.

Like, you know, like because we just used to laugh all the time. You, you know, whenever we could like go out and walk together, like, you know, we would walk for 45 minutes and have like a dinner and come back and watch a movie. Like my father used to take us like every other, every quarter, like some Amitabh Bachchan used to— movie used to come out.

You used to all go together?

We all used to go together for the night show. So we'll go eat and then we'll go for the night show and we'll all walk, by the way, all the 8 of us.

Okay.

And then like we'll watch the movie and then we'll come back. And I never used to like— I used to sleep through the movie too sometimes.

But still, with everyone around.

And then I used to like, for the longest time I thought my grandmother is my mother. Oh yeah, because, because I used to call her Radha Amma and I used to call my mother Kalavati.

Oh, by name?

By name. Wow. Then, uh, like they had me fill up the application, like, you know, something came about for registering something and I started like— they had like for father's name, mother's name— I started writing my mother's name as Radha Amma. My mother said, no, no, no, no, like it's me.

Oh, that's grandmother. I was 7 years.

Yeah. So, um, and I— so even in that like space, right, like I used to cuddle with my grandmother, wake up. I used to only see her face when I wake up. I like— and I used to get like very angry if she's not in front of me because I want— like for me she was the first deity, like she was my God.

Wow, okay.

Right? I, I, I wake up, literally I used to wake up like this and say like, I want to see your face first. No one, no one come in front of me.

Oh my, wow.

Yeah, so that, that used to be—

Your life can be made into a movie.

Yeah, like it's funny, it's great. It's actually like, um, uh, a lot of interesting times. Uh, we used to play— I like, you know, because it's a slum, like, you know, we used to go collect, uh, all kinds of like junk metal and everything. Uh, I used to make Ganesha out of junk metal.

Oh wow.

Yeah, 11 years old I made one, and a guy, uh, like scraps put together and made Because like, uh, see, the kids like there like have the, uh, sort of the, um, uh, sort of a misnomer. And also there's a like a misconception sort of, uh, that you are, uh, going to go take money from people for Ganesha pandal and you're going to pocket it.

Mm-hmm.

So like all the, all the houses there would not give— like, you know, if kids show up and say we're going to put Ganesha, like they would say like, get the hell out. Like, why would I— why would we give like ₹10 to put Ganesha? Like, the other kid just came and like, you know, took ₹10 or ₹20. So then we said, you know what, like, you know, if they don't give anything, no problem. Like, we'll figure out how Ganesha should be made.

You have pictures of what you made now?

Yeah, I do.

You do have pictures?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll send it to you. And then, uh, we, uh, we, we put it together, um, and then there was a professor who was walking by from Usmania University who belongs to the same caste as I. So I come from a modiliyar family. And so he looked at it and said, like, you know, this could— he could— this kid could be an engineer. And all my mother had to hear was that.

Oh.

And she said, you are an engineer now.

Were you an engineer?

I was an engineer. I was a mechanical engineer. So I became a mechanical engineer and I had fascination for machines anyway. So, okay. Anyway, so coming to your life, your life is more interesting than mine.

No, I think you have a more interesting story, but for each one, I think listening to another one's stories and things. Yeah, because we've lived ours, no? So ours is like, yeah, okay.

So the transition from being a kid who went to school and then being auditioned for like a movie, how did that all happen for you? Like, was there any— and did you have to train for like getting into a movie, or was it like subliminal, or it just happened by luck?

I think it definitely helps to have some sort of formal training, uh, just to face a camera. Also because then you're not going to be conscious of like, there's a camera on me, you know. I think the more relaxed you can be as an actor, just relaxed in yourself, then you can be different characters.

Yeah.

So I think some sort of level of being relaxed with yourself and being in front of a camera is sort of necessary. Also, if you've probably done theater or some sort of form of dance, a classical dance before, which has a rigorous amount of discipline or some sort of training focus that has been put into it, it definitely helps.

And you had all of it?

I had the dance, uh, part of it. I had done theater and all through school, though nothing, uh, very formal or anything like that. But, uh, I used to definitely watch a lot of movies. And so I, I watch movies, and then I kind of a photographic memory. So I learn up everybody's dialogues from the movie, and then I used to enact the entire movie at home for everybody. Like, everyone used to sit and I used to be every character and do that over weekends. That's something I used to do for friends and family. So, yeah, but I didn't think I'd start off with a horror movie. I had not fed myself too much with horror watching. I had not watched too much till I knew I'm doing the horror movie, and then I thought I shouldn't watch similar horror movies to not be Exactly that. Um, but, uh, so how did that movie come about? Auditions. Uh, I don't know why I decided to be an actor. I still— when people ask me, I still don't know when that switch tipped and I said, oh, let's do this. Because I was a very good student and all in class, and everyone thought I'd do something, uh, you know.

What was your— prior to acting, what was your fascination?

Uh, everything. The arts, actually. So everybody else was like, huh, you would do something like that? Because if dance is and music is and painting is and writing is, then they were like, yeah, so the movies are meant for you. But I didn't see it like that. I always thought it would be something very kind of structured, a proper structured thing. But I didn't know movies are not structured. I thought if you dance and act, you'll sign a lot of movies and a lot of people will give me movies. Why not? Because I can act and they'll see that and they'll definitely give me a lot of movies is what I thought. So I was like, let's do this. I started going for auditions and then reality check happened. That's not how it works. But it helps if you have— if you can act and all, it does help so that when you get that opportunity, then you can shine. So I think just be ready, you know, always.

I can't be ready because I'm too old for that.

You never know. There's no thing like age. Also, there's no thing like age. You don't know what kind of role you're Are you also looking at becoming an actor?

Oh, please not.

Oh no, not?

Okay.

Then that's the best candidate because I see all the great actors and everyone who's, uh, not all the greats, but, uh, a lot of people who say, I didn't want to only.

I don't even want to go there.

I think your thing is better than mine because me saying I wanted to become actor, I went for auditions, people are like, no, no, that's not a nice story. The better story is I really didn't want to become an actor. Like, I really didn't want to, and I never done any formal training. I was just sitting on the road in a puddle of water. And then this person came up to me and said, wow, you're this most stunning woman in the puddle. And my 10 friends who wanted to be actresses, no one gave them work. I went with them for their auditions and I got all the work. That's the story where you say I didn't want to and then I actually got the stuff. But I don't have that story. No one gave me stuff without— my mum didn't send my pictures to Miss India either.

No, she didn't?

She didn't.

She didn't?

She didn't. I don't think she thought I was beautiful enough.

Oh, really?

She should have sent my pictures to Miss India. She didn't do that.

That's like— that is behind you.

She didn't love me enough, I think. Yeah. So yeah, no pictures went to Miss India. I did some auditions. I did a lot of auditions. I signed—

For pageants?

No, not for pageants. Just for movies? No one thought I was meant for pageants anyway. I mean, since I was the person taking these decisions, since nobody else thought, uh, they were like, okay, go ahead. And they didn't know either. My family, no one's connected to movies anyway. So we thought, okay, let's try. Yes, let's do movies. It was like that.

And so how much of that was your mother's influence on that? Like, was she instrumental, like, in pushing you, or you pushed yourself together?

I think instrumental in giving me freedom. I think that's a very important thing because I hear of other girls who had to run away from home and come to a city that they don't live in, uh, because their parents said don't do this and they still wanted to do this. And I think going against family and all is a really, really sad thing. I think going against family is— it would be very difficult for me if my parents said, do not do this, and then I had to. But so that was a good thing. I think the gift of freedom is very huge. But she couldn't— she didn't have contacts, or neither did my dad.

So how did you establish all of that?

I still don't have any contacts. It's not established yet. But—

Well, you've done like around how many? 20?

That's so cool, no? Yeah, and still not have any contacts. I think I can get into the world records for that. But, uh, no, that's not my strong point. I don't know how to. And at home—

But how did you like know about the auditions? Which auditions?

So, uh, I— we had that 10th standard parents' day that happens, and Asha Parekh had come as a judge— not judge, as a chief guest, sorry. And her manager was, uh, KS Sanjay, who has managed Rishi Kapoor and her and a lot of people. So he— I had done Saraswati Vandana, which was a dance performance And so he said, wow, you dance really well and all, you should do movies. I said, yeah, oh, I should? Okay, yeah, I should. And he said, yeah, some dance movies. And I said, yeah, I will only do dance movies where I do Kathak. And so he said, yeah, we should take pictures. And, uh, so took these really garish pictures because I didn't know anything about hair and makeup.

And you had curly hair?

Yeah, so they made my hair curlier and bigger and they put fake eyelashes. They darkened my already dark eyebrows. First they thinned my eyebrows to like so thin, then they darkened, filled the eyebrows inside, then they put like eyeshadow like that and lined my lips and darkened my nose like that. And I had these horrid pictures which I gave everybody. And you know, people used to meet me in person and look at the pictures and very kindly say, you're so beautiful in person, you look very nice.

Hmm.

The pictures don't do you justice. And I thought, oh, they're being nice, they think I'm pretty, that's so lovely. But the pictures were awful, like really awful.

Why did you let the pictures go out then?

I thought that is what you have to do. I listened to everyone around me. They said everyone takes pictures like this, all actresses wear those eyelashes, you also wear, then you get movies. I said, yeah, so where I get movies? So I put the fake lashes and the garish makeup and the hazel color contact lenses, garish makeup, and it was Frightening.

And you didn't like yourself there in that picture?

No, I loved it because other people said that then only you will get movies if you give these pictures.

But it's not you. No, but you are you because you're so natural.

But I thought movies are characters. You're anyway not you. You work so hard to not be you in a movie. So I said, yeah, pictures may be whatever they say. Yes. So Hairspray, where the curls were these tight curls and Yeah, they're pretty awesome.

Is that why you got the first movie as like a movie where—

No, they wanted— no, they wanted a foreigner for the first movie. They wanted a girl who's English, who's British, because she's British origin. And when they met me in person, he didn't think I fitted the role, though there was an audition then for it. And, uh, Vikram Bhatt— so, uh, his team and him thought that I acted well, and they did that possessed scene where I switch, uh, between possessed and— have you seen 1920? So that scene where I climb up the pillar and then I— first time me, and then I say, save me, save me, and then I'm like, I'm taking her away. So that scene. So they thought I acted well, and I think look-wise, uh, he had enough foresight to see that look-wise she does not look, but I'll make her look, uh, like that. And, uh, so they made me look English on whatever their look was, and I think they did a pretty good job. I didn't look like me at all.

Yes, you didn't like look like you.

I didn't.

And you had like a lot of curly hairs in that.

I still have curly hair. We've straightened it now.

Why do you do that?

To look pretty nice.

Why, like, why do you think, like, straightening hair is—

Now it's in my head. A lot of things as an actor, no, they keep telling you. So you learn a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know. Like, they tell you that one of your profiles is hideous, and then you're like, oh, only this profile? Okay, I will sit only like this because I look nice only like— you learn that. And then they tell you that— so some things just stay with you. I think, and some things you're like, no. I don't know if I'm as strong as to be able to wipe out all people's things. Some subconsciously will hit me.

And it stays with you like a sleeper cell.

It does. A lot of them, yeah.

When do they wake up then?

They wake up on beauty shoots. They wake up. I get very nervous. So because if it's an acting scene, now I'm like, it's fine. I will do the scene so well that people will be— they won't even look at the looks. Forget the looks. They won't look at the nose. They won't look at that tooth. They won't look at the skin. So nothing matters. But when it's a beauty shoot, I'm like, oh my God, because now what? Like, you've got a, you know, a script with some ghisapetta lines that are so badly written, so you have to work that. So usually beauty shoots are what I get really stressed for, because then you know that in this angle, now they don't take this angle, nose, all that. But when it's a movie, I don't do anything like that, because then I think it comes in the way of your acting and then you'll mess up.

Hmm. And that movie, like, you know, you, you had like nominations. Yes. Uh, for, uh, female debut and so on and so forth.

Yes.

So, so how was it like? Was it transformative? What did you feel after that? You felt like you arrived or what?

I felt I arrived when it released because, uh, the critics were very nice to me. And I was told before that in horror movies they're not very nice to people at all because horror is not considered mainstream genre. So critics were very nice to me, like mainstream popular elite critics were also nice to me, as well as, uh, I don't know, all, all types of critics were very nice to me. I don't like to differentiate, but people have those, the elite category. And so all the critics were nice. The audience was really nice to me. People said really nice things. So I thought I've arrived and now I'll sign 100 movies.

What happened?

I didn't sign 100 movies. No one gave me anything.

Why is that?

I don't know. I think people also— also, you guys also think it's a two-way thing. Uh, you can't just blame it and say no one gave me anything. Did I do anything? I didn't know how to approach people and everything. So that was also there. So you can't just blame it and say no one gave me anything. Also, one thing is that, uh, the industry likes to typecast a person.

So they like all the—

So I was a foreigner girl, foreigner girl in horror. I— people didn't know. They thought I was dubbed also, uh, for whatever reason. They thought it's not my voice and I was dubbed. So they thought I didn't know Hindi and I was foreigner girl, horror movie. So there's a rare instance where you would again do a movie that has foreigner girl and horror movie.

Hmm.

So I think that also. But the other good thing is people do say you get typecast soon, but you also can get anti-typecast as soon as you do something, uh, different. So that's also easy. Like when I did Kerala Story, everyone said, now you'll do only movies that are realistic and you'll be a bichari girl. Then I did Sunflower, I did Rosie. So Rosie was this bold, almost sleazy character who's, you know, saying these really shady dialogues and being so brazen about things. So I think once you do something else, but you should get that opportunity to do that something else.

Hmm.

So probably after Kerala Story, I'm getting that opportunity. So then people are like, oh, then you do other things, but I could do them then. It's just that you didn't give me. I could always do, huh? But, uh, is what I believe I could always do. But maybe I think at the right time things come. So maybe when you're actually ready to, then they come.

After your movie was released, what was your parents' reaction? What did they like about what you did, and what did they not like about what you did?

1920, I think my family was very happy. They didn't— they thought I was entirely utilized. There are movies I've done where they felt I was like so sad, underutilized, and Do you feel that way too? Yeah, like I never want to name because I don't know people take offense or not, but I feel whatever your skill something should be you should feel like चलो use करो मुझे you got me in your movie now use some show something if underutilized I think that's the saddest. But do they not like give you the script and other things before they come to you and say like this is what you you do but always movies what is on script level yes there are movies where I've done which are script level and exact 1920 was one of those. Kerala Story was actually also one of those. A lot of movies, what you're doing and what comes out eventually might be different because of so many factors. Also, when a script is written, for example, anything like even 1920, the action part of it is never going to be written, no? How are you going to say that when the Hanuman Chalisa is shot and on this Bhoot Peshach, she's going to hit her head against the wall, then he's going— she's going to hit a glass?

Those things might not be written. So, uh, a lot of times the magic, if it can be— sometimes it's elevated from what is on the script and what is, uh, like Sunflower was that. I think that Rosie character, what was written became even more than what was written on the script. So, uh, I think that process from script to screen, uh, what comes, what's edited, what's added, what's, uh, can totally change.

Movie released in 2007.

2008.

2008. 2007 and 2008. And then after that, what happened? How many— like, what happened to your—

I think I didn't do any movies for a while till I did— no, I did Phir, which was also a Vikram Bhatt movie, which got, uh, which was Rajneesh Duggal and me only. Like, they repeated the 1920 pair, um, but it got pirated and released, like, without the green screen and all being done. It got released on YouTube. And, uh, oh, I don't know, when it goes to dub or something, someone leaked out some copy. I think it's still there or something. And then after like 6 months of that, they— it went on all like a lot of sites. And then after 6 months of that, they released it in theaters. So that didn't do well.

Were you happy with the role in that?

Yeah, yeah, I thought it was a very cool role. It's a very nicely written story, I think, because it goes from past to present and that has a whole reincarnation thing and all. It was quite a cool story. But, uh, yeah, I think when a movie doesn't do well, I think you just look for reasons. it's not meant to do well. It's not a good thing. I think the audience decides if they have rejected a movie. It's not—

So people say that, like, you know, you have to immerse yourself into the role when you get into the role, right?

Like, when you would like to believe souls.

Yeah, like, how do you get into a possessed role?

Okay, I think as an actor, there is a lot of suspension of disbelief anyway, and a lot of things you can't experience in real life that you're going to show on screen, and you shouldn't also. Sometimes you do and it's easy and you can understand it and say, haan, okay, like I've gone through this emotion, I know what it feels like. Or you can say, okay, I can imagine. Like in Kerala Story, I could imagine that if you take me away to Syria and you don't give me a phone to talk to my mother now, and you say can't talk on the phone, I know the level of stress that that would put me in. If it's, uh, but like a movie like say Commando, and you say you have to fight off these 10 people, in real life I don't know if I'd be able to beat 10 goons, but I have to imagine that I have superhuman strength and that I can. Possession, yes, is a difficult emotion. I have not experienced a possession, but I think Vikram Bhatt also gave me very clear instructions on how he wanted the possession to be.

He said he wants it very realistic and he doesn't want me being like, hey, I'm possessed. He said the more internalized and the more subtle we keep it, the scarier it gets. And sometimes just, you know, like just say a line, like just normally just say it, and it's more scarier than being like, I'm trying to scare you here. मैं पूछूँ और मैं डराने आई हूँ। That might not be as scary. So I think his instructions— it was my first movie, so I give the entire credit to the director. I think he managed to tell me what to put on screen.

And were you happy with like what happened on the screen?

Yeah, I think still, I think that's a movie that each year that goes by, it becomes more and more popular. It's a movie that keeps giving. I think it's more popular now than it was then. Also, now the horror genre has got more respect. And I get tagged on Instagram and so many people rewatching the movies and young girls putting that scary makeup and, you know, doing the songs and everything. Feels very nice.

So your hair?

Yeah.

Not this one.

Okay.

The curly hair.

That is this only straightness. It is that only. All the hair is— But I think that's for an actor, no? You should have different things. You should look unrecognizable in movies. You should not be the same. Ada in every movie. And that's the whole intriguing part of it. There should be some— if you know what you're expecting, what's the fun? Then you're playing Ada in all movies. I don't want that. And if I get roles that allow me to not, uh, be Ada, and I think—

Was that like having curly hair? Was it considered like a little bit of a baggage for yourself, or—

No, nothing like that. I had actually said this in some interview, and I meant it as a— it was a non-thing. As in, if someone doesn't want you in a movie, They find reasons to not want you in a movie. Like they'll say, like if I don't want to take you, I'll say because you're wearing blue kurta. Now you can be like, but I'll wear pink kurta and come.

Pink kurta के लिए क्या हो गया अभी?

That's what I'm saying. So the reason will be so, uh, like you'll say no, I don't want Adarsh. She's sitting on green sofa. But I'll be like, I will sit on black color sofa. But they don't want you in the movie. That's the reason they give. So they don't— the reason is not the curly hair. The reason is not the blue kurta. The reason is they don't want you there, so they give you any reason to, uh— so that was one of the reasons, like, they'll be like, no, we don't look for someone with curly hair. They don't want to tell you that they hate you, and I think they're just being nice. They're just finding a reason to be, uh, you know, not, uh, mean, I think.

Was the film— was the industry in support, uh, of you when you came into the industry? Like, were people like supportive of you, and did you have mentors, and did you have like people who looked after you, or like people who looked for you? And because there is all these like people, like some, some of the star kids, right? Like they get like, uh, handled.

I am not related to anyone.

Uh, I know that.

So that way, no. But my parents did look after me at home and fed me good food. And I got directors who were nice enough to give me these opportunities. I think that's a very like trusting, just this girl for 1920. I think that's a huge You're just trusting some girl, right? Like, who was I then? I've not done anything. I have no body of work, absolutely nothing. I've not done any like show or movie, or I had not done South movies also before that, nothing. So you're trusting this girl with this movie and saying she'll do. I think that's risking a lot, and you're really trusting me with it. So that way, yes. But I don't have any relatives in the industry looking out for me.

Did you have friends when you came out like that?

No, no, in the industry, no, I still don't have a lot of friends. Friends, when you do a movie, you— I feel then that, that whole set becomes your family.

And then that is banned, sort of.

No, everyone has their own lives. Not that now we're enemies, I hate you, not like that. But now you'll do your movie and I will do my other stuff, and then that becomes your family. So for those 3 months, you know, you're talking to those people every day, you're meeting those people every day on set, whether you like them or not, you cannot stand them.

Do you have any friends in industry now, or—

Not really, not anyone who I have like that. But like I said, during a movie, then those people almost are your best friends because you're hanging with them all day. And, uh, for me, I feel like my co-stars, like, whatever, you know, you should all help each other and you're all making this together. For me, it's like a whole community affair, this movie thing. It's not just I come and do my role. I like when you have directors who are so involved and, you know, you're all, you're all making this together. So then I feel everyone is that, this thing, and then it gets over and you move on to the next then. And I don't like to have friendships that are just, uh, superficial. Yeah, it's either life and death or not.

Do you have any friends?

I have. They're not from the industry, but I have a very close thing. So like I said, it's life and death for me. So you're like my person or like I don't know you. Like, I'm not mean to the people I don't know, but, uh, and then like I said, but this family on set is a very, uh, It just happens and it's a very nice thing, but some things are meant to be for that time and then end, and then you move on to the next one. So I think it functions like that for all of us in the movies.

Not just in movies, in life too.

In life too, no? Maybe like project-wise, basis-wise.

I think I have like a very small crew of people like I trust. Yeah, it's probably 2 or 3, no more than that.

Same, I think. Yeah, like 3, 4 people. in my life.

I will just call them if there is any problem.

Same. I totally get that. Yeah.

Yeah. So, uh, your relationship with your sister, like, you know, obviously, like, you know, she's, uh, I can tell she's a darling.

Totally.

She is. Like, I could tell.

Right, right, right.

Probably a silent brain too. Um, so, uh, so tell me more about, like, how you go about the process of picking the movies, Trying to understand, like, whether you fit in, you don't fit in. Sometimes you, you may be offered a role. Do you choose every role that comes your way, or you, like, are picky about it? Do you look for certain things, or what's the process?

I think it's fortunate to have someone who's looking out for you, like you said, and that doesn't necessarily mean that—

Your sister looks out for you.

Yes, and that's very important for me that I have someone who's managing, because sometimes I want to not do a movie for no reason that I can explain in words. I just like सही नहीं लग रहा है, and I want to be able to say that to someone and not have some roundabout weird reason to say why I don't want to do. Because if every factor you're saying this is the actor, this is the producer, this is the director, मुझे सही नहीं लग रहा है, and I want to be able to say that to someone and not be questioned and given the Spanish Inquisition about like how why not. And somehow I don't know we are I don't want to jinx it but we are attuned to a thing where we get that same feeling of not and we get the same feeling of sometimes the craziest things we're like करना है करना है. We have to do this when it seems like there's nothing, but we want to do, uh, this thing. So that really helps. And, uh, it's intuitive, the process. And I need somebody else who'll understand that and understand me and understand that I want to work on intuition and not on, uh, anything else.

And I want to take sometimes the weirdest, most bizarre decisions.

And, uh, have you overruled any of the decisions that, like, she has taken that you have?

No.

So you always follow her?

Yeah, there's no following. That's what— there's no, um, it's—

No, you're always in tune.

I mean, I mean, it's in tune. And it's a thing that, like I said, we don't look at it as, no, I won't. It's always a— I don't know how to put it into words. It's a, um, if I always say I'm— I don't feel I'm comfortable, there's no reason I have to give. A lot of times if I say I don't want to, to another professional person, I need to give a reason. No, like, why, why don't you want to do it? Like, what's wrong with you? Why won't you want to do it? So that it doesn't come to that. Or if she says, this is a really nice thing, but I don't think we should, I'm like, okay, she must have thought of something and said no. It's that looking out is very important, and I don't think you have to have a relative in the industry for that. It can be— for me, this is the industry.

The system.

Who is what? Industry is also made out of people only, no? I mean, we are the ones who are looking at it as the great, you know, the ones who are star kids who have great lineage and the ones who are outsiders who are garbage lineage. I mean, who's dividing that? Everyone is humans only. Like, you're all people looking out for people. So it's nice that I have people looking out for me. So yes, I think it's, it's very important because for me, mental stability is— it is important. I can't be stressed about— then I don't want to work. I can't work under those circumstances.

So now, like, how long before you actually got into another movie from 2008? You had movies after that, I'm sure.

I did Phir, then I did a movie called Hum Hai Rahi Kaar Ke.

Kaar Ke?

Kaar Ke.

It had—

Kaar Ke, okay. No, it was a one-night story in the car. It was a car journey. 2 best friends go from Mumbai to Pune and they meet like crazy characters on the way. So there was Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Dutt, and all also in that. That I had done. And then I got offered, uh, so, and then Hasi To Fasi had happened around 2002. 2012 end or 2013. And, uh, I had gone for like auditions for that back and forth for like 3 or 4 months. Like, I was shortlisted to one of the final, uh, 20, then 10, then 8, then 6, 4, then 3. So that process happened around 6 to 8 months, and I was really hoping it happens because it's a big dharma movie. So, uh, and the role was nice and all. It was a rom-com. I thought, wow, okay, So then the final decision was not being sure because they loved the audition and all, but they didn't like my eyebrows. So we did eyebrow look tests for 2 and a half months. So my eyebrows grow quickly, so they could— they made like— we did fat eyebrows, uh, they thought looked very not Gujarati.

They needed me to look like Gujarati girl. So they tweezed it, we plucked the center and made it shorter, then we made it— all that happened 2 and a half months where I was on-off, not sure.

No.

So, you know, you get up every day thinking, okay, we're finalizing by end of the week, then deliberating again. And then finally I got on for Hasee To Fasee. And then I did Hasee To Fasee, and midway through Hasee To Fasee, Puri Jagannath had offered me Heart Attack. And he said, the first time I'm making a movie, I want to make the girl character as strong as the boy's character. My wife and daughter said that they should take Ada Sharma because of 1920. So I directly went to meet them. They had 2 people in mind, but it was not an audition. I just went to meet, and in Hyderabad, the team decides. It's not just the director, I've noticed. So his whole team was in favor. And, uh, at first not sure if I wanted to do Telugu because I don't speak the language. So he said, I'm starting the movie after 4 months and you can start training now.

You can do it.

I have the script ready, you can take it. I have it written in Roman, uh, like English-Telugu and in Telugu. And I'll send voice notes, like his AD Shiva will send every day, uh, 5 scenes. You start and keep a teacher and learn the language. And then I thought, you know, if I'm getting a movie in an industry, in any industry, I'm an actor. And if they're giving me a movie where I thought the role was very powerful role for a girl, and it was really nice for a debut, it was a huge debut, Puri Jagannath and Nitin. And so I said, why am I just sticking to Hindi? So, uh, so yeah, so that's how Heart Attack happened then.

And it was a successful movie?

It was a success. It was very successful. It changed things around in Hyderabad. People still call me Hayati. When I go there, uh, they, they don't, uh, like here people say, oh, Lisa, or like Shalini, because 1920 or Kerala Story or Rosie, um, is what people know me by. But in Hyderabad, people are like Hayati. Heart Attack Hayati is what people know me as.

So, um, and then there was another movie after that, like Son of Satyamurti.

So Son of Satyamurti, Shannam, and all had happened. And, uh, yeah, then I— those came because Heart Attack did well. That's how it works in Telugu. I think if one does well, you get your next few, uh, and then in Hindi Commando happened, then Commando 2 and 3, and, uh, then I did a few series also, you know. What did we do? Holiday we did, uh, Holiday was this web series I did. Pati Patni Panga. I'm definitely missing out some things, but we did some other fun stuff also. And, uh, yeah, then Kerala Story.

That was '23, no?

Kerala Story was '23. So like, so from 2000, uh, Heart Attack— this Heart Attack and Haseedo Basi released the same week in 2014. So after that, then there was Kshanam and, uh, Son of Satyameva Jayate, Rana Vikrama with Puneet Rajkumar. Yeah, he's like my favorite co-star ever. He's someone who I worked with and I felt like I want to be this person. I want to be this person. Yeah.

Why is that?

Such an amazing person. Yeah, such an amazing, amazing person. I feel, uh, as an actor on set, you can totally decide what mood you want to have the set in, you know, you have that power. It's a very heady power. It's— you can totally misuse it, or you can, uh, you can totally make everybody's mood on set like the worst mood ever. As an actor, you have that power. Or you can make everybody like feel totally motivated to want to work and make this movie. Because if you're an actor and you're going to be foul-mouthed and scream on set, and you can ruin the atmosphere single-handedly. I've seen it happen. An actor in power, like, uh, he's someone who I— he's Rana Vikrama. I did with him.

No, no, no, no. Where did you see?

Like, in a few other places. In a few other places I did see. Uh, a director also. A director definitely can because he's running the set. But even an actor, I'm saying, can totally ruin, uh, the whole thing.

Male actor or female actor?

Mostly male, like the world.

Why is that?

Because that's how the world runs.

Why is that?

I don't know. Men are more important, sadly.

Really?

Yeah. I mean, आदमी ने बोला, like hero ने बोला तो तो then yeah. I've seen women also ruining a set. You can totally ruin the energy of a set. I'm not saying they can't. We do have that power as women also, but men have more of it. That's all I'm saying. But as a woman looking at this guy who has—he's like a god in Canada. He has that power and he keeps everyone on set. You know, they wait for him to enter. He enters and everyone's face is like—

Lit up.

Sir aagaye. Like, you know, sir is there. Puneet sir has come, we're going to start. Everyone's so excited, from the lightmen to the spot, everyone on set, the cast, the crew, everyone's like, sir has come. And sir comes on time. And sir keeps the atmosphere so happy. And sir meets his fans when he's exhausted also so well. And I just felt that, that if I ever reach a point of power, Or if whatever limited power you have, if you can be that, I, I was like, I want to be that.

Then, uh, after all of this, you did Kerala Story.

Yes.

Okay, tell me how that happened.

And like how everything else happens, I went and met Sudipto sir, and he thought I was not the correct person for it, and he was looking for someone else. I've never been the first choice for any of these movies, not for 1920, not Commando, not Hasi To Fasi, not Rosie. Rosie. I don't know, I've never been the first choice. Rare. I can't even think of something that I can name where people were like, was it not subconscious?

You always wanted to be second or third?

No. Yeah, maybe. No, maybe I'm doing this to myself. Oh yeah, wow, spooky. Yeah, see, maybe I'm manifesting this. To stop that. But now I don't do that behavior anymore. No, that I did as a kid. Calculative, manipulative child.

Yes.

No, but yeah, so maybe whatever. Yeah, so I've always been second or third choice, but the final one— so okay, last story was that. And Sudeep sir's nephew's, uh, he had discussed with him over dinner that day and he said, I'm looking at these people for it and I met Ada Sharma today. So his nephew said, what, 1920 actress? You have to take her. So Sudeep sir said, but my movie is not horror. He said, you still have to take her only. So that— he said he decided on me because of that. I don't know.

Hmm.

But they did audition me and all. But he said when his nephew said that, he said, I was pretty sure. I said, really? He said, yeah. He told me that—

Why was he not sure then?

He was not very sure. He said he had not seen too much of my work before. Uh, he got sure after he sort of verbally told me I'm doing the movie. He did an audition in Malayalam, uh, of the scenes in Malayalam, which is that scene with the mother on the call. He said after that he was sure because then he sent that scene to a critic in, uh, Kerala who he said is a foul-tempered guy who hates everything. And that guy said, she's actually not bad, she's good. And he said, for coming from that guy is huge. So he was pretty sure then. So he told me all this after. I was like, whatever. And then after that he was like, you were only my choice, how could I think of anybody else? So yeah, right. So, so yeah, so no, that's still a running joke with him and me. And now he's like, uh, some interview of his, and he said, yeah, that was my first, I wanted only her. And I said, sir, you didn't tell me that. And he said, no, no, of course I didn't. You were perfect for the role.

So I just feel first choice, whatever last choice, if you are and you do the role, um, so well that people don't think of anyone else other than you for it, I think that's how it should be.

Tell me the story of Kerala Story. What, what is the background story? Like, why was it like—

Did you watch it?

I did, like, but I want like everyone else to know what it is about because there were people who were divided on both sides saying that like it was deeply political, all that stuff. Like, they did not see you as a character. They were seeing you as a political agenda one way or the other, which is not the case.

No, we can't decide what the case is for different people because I think we live in a country where everyone has freedom of opinion. Yeah. So if somebody wants to think I'm a political agenda, they should be allowed to think that. We can't sit and change everybody's opinion. Yes. That's the beauty of the country we live in. You all should have your opinions, and I should be able to tell you mine, and you should be able to tell me yours, and we should be able to be civil and not want to behead each other for it. I think that's the— that's how things should be, and I'm happy we live in a place like that. I don't still see anything political about it because—

I don't either.

We didn't use any political terminologies or parties or politicians' names. Or for me, it's a story, it's a human story. It's about feminism, it's about women not having their rights, it's about women's rights being taken away from them, it's about How when women's rights are taken away from them and how they're squashed down to not be allowed to even do basic things and be punished for doing the basics—that's what the movie is about for me then and even now. So that has not changed for me. What is the story arc? The story arc is about this girl who gets who's naive enough to get to fall in love and then get you know like बह जाते हैं प्यार में which is an emotion I totally identified with as a girl. I think we've all done stupid things in love. I've not done stupid enough to get converted into a terrorist bomber, but we've all done silly things in love. Hers was just silly enough to like— each step she was making a mistake. Not telling her mom, running away from home, you know, being like, I won't tell anybody this and nothing, let's figure it out.

Getting pregnant and, you know, still—

So...

The character was a flawed character for me. When I read the script, I was like, uh, she's very unlikable actually. I thought when I read it, and I know you're not supposed to judge your characters and all, but I kind of judged her. I was like, she's doing like— each step of what she does, if you rewatch the movie in that way and think about each step of what she does is a mistake. Like, you're like, each step, because one silly mistake she keeps doing. So for me, it's that movie. It's a movie about a girl who's, uh, making stupid decisions, stupid mistakes, and how one small error can mess up your life entirely. Yeah, I don't see— for me, I cannot see the political agenda side of things. And fair enough for people who can. I don't want to change anyone's opinion on that.

Yeah.

But I always feel that something will always look like it's propaganda for you if you don't want to hear that side of the story and you only want to hear your side. So even if both of us are telling our sides of the story and I don't want to hear yours, yours will always be propaganda for me. So it's like, you know, I, I'm very well fed, so there's no starvation and hunger in the world. I get lunch and dinner every day, and so does my family. So no one is starving anywhere, you know. It's just that. So I look at it like that.

And that was like a movie that actually almost made you arrive in a big way.

Not almost, I think it dropped the bomb and exploded. And it's a movie that no one can hate, love, do whatever. You can't be like—

They can't ignore you.

Kansa, 19, English movie. Command Hindi or Telugu? It's not that. So Kerala Story, I think, enters the room before I enter the room now. And yeah, you can't not know what it is. I like that. It's fine by me. It's totally fine by me. I'm very proud of the movie and I'm very happy with the performance that I gave. And, you know, we put our all into it and I'm so happy that the world got to see. A lot of things you do, we put our all into all characters. फिक्शनल और रियल और यू नो थिंग्स लाइक आई सेड लाइक पोजेस्ट यू हैव नॉट यू पुट योरसेल्फ इनटू इट यू डोंट नो हाउ मेनी पीपल गेट टू सी इट यू वांट द मैक्सिमम अमाउंट ऑफ़ पीपल टू वाच इट सो केरला शोरी इज़ दैट मूवी सबने देखा इवन पीपल वो से या आई हैव नॉट वाच्ड इट य Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know, but I don't mind. Yeah, I'm very happy.

What was it like, like when that movie came out and like people were giving you accolades and—

Oh, it was crazy.

And then like they were also like dissing on you at the same time.

Yeah, it was crazy. My number got leaked on a prostitution website with my pictures and a rate card also on all the things that I would do with my number. And that got leaked and they chose the day to leak it out on Thursday when the movie was releasing on Friday. So my phone was buzzing constantly for the prostitution things in Dubai, okay, and Gulf. So I'm getting—

How did they know that the movie is going to get released?

And even I didn't know movie is getting released. I thought it's going to get banned everywhere because the previous day we were sitting in a car, Vipul sir was sitting, Sudeep sir and me, and we were driving in Delhi and our news interviews we were supposed to do, everything got canceled because, uh, they said that the movie might not release only, and these 2 people are speaking to lawyers And I was like, tell me, tell me. And they're not putting it on speaker because both of them are on the phone. And they're like, what? Okay, okay. And they're figuring out. So I thought it won't release. My mom called me and she said, in suburbia there are no shows, it's not showing anything. And Globus, there are— so I didn't even know. She said, in Getty Galaxy one show is showing, you think it'll release? I said, I don't know. So I didn't know it's going to release, but the advance bookings were so strong they couldn't cancel the shows. So, uh, I think the audience decided, all the threats, and they said they'll bomb theaters. And, you know, if you go to the theater, they'll bomb.

People were like, we are going. So I think when people want to go, they decide. Because I thought nobody will go. There were threats. They said they'll break theaters and they'll burn down theaters.

Who was all this?

The people who didn't want the movie being watched.

Why did they not want the movie?

Propaganda.

What was the propaganda about?

I'm not sure. We should ask them.

No, what did you think is the interpretation of what they were trying to like—

They've not seen the movie yet. I was like, take hope, then have a problem. Because a 3-minute trailer can tell you something about a movie, or you have interpreted something about the movie.

What was so controversial about the 3 minutes?

I think— no, not the 3 minutes also. That first teaser was the controversy. 32,000 was the controversy.

32,000 people like where—

I say na 32,000. That teaser is still banned online. Can I say that line now, or you will be banned if I say? Okay, so I say मेरे जैसे 32,000 लड़कियाँ उस रेगिस्तान में दफन हो चुकी हैं। That 32,000 number I have been quoted and misquoted and not misquoted. I said ना I said मेरे जैसे 32,000 लड़कियाँ उस रेगिस्तान में दफन हो चुकी हैं। I have not said from India. So some people said she said not she didn't say from India. She means worldwide. Some people said she said only from Kerala. The line was मेरे जैसे 32,000 लड़कियाँ उस रेगिस्तान में दफन हो चुकी So that 32,000 caught on and 32,000 was everywhere. And 32,000, somebody said 29,000, somebody said it's 37,000. And I was like, you're not talking about women who are being raped and abused, and this is how we talk, counting them like, uh, chickens, right?

Hmm.

I mean, I, I don't know. I find poultry farming also pretty disturbing, but that's another topic for another day. But, uh, uh, yeah, so that, that was the major problem, I think. Though after it released, a lot of people, uh, liked it, chilled out. No, even the people who had a problem chilled out after watching it. But there are people who still have a problem with it.

That's okay.

And they can continue it.

They can continue. You shouldn't worry. No, I don't either. Not like— nothing like, you know, people say like bothers me.

Oh no, I'm not that self-realized. I get bothered.

No, no, I don't like anymore.

Really? I have not reached there. Teach me how. How?

It's easy.

I can't pay attention.

Just don't pay attention to anything.

I will pay— how to not pay? Suppose someone said banning my movie, I'll pay attention. Why are you banning my movie? I was very upset.

Because that is their perspective.

Yeah, but now they have power. No. So if people in power have perspectives that they can now unleash which will destroy your life, then I—

how are— how is someone going to destroy your life?

You will stop my movie from releasing in theaters. I was like, oh no. So is acting the only thing that you know? No, no, but now your movie is releasing. Tomorrow, and now you're saying I'll stop it from releasing. So I'm upset. I'm not so self-realized to say जो होना है होगा। I know that's the right thing to say.

नहीं नहीं like you know so what if if that movie got banned and it never saw the day of light?

Nothing. Nothing will happen. We'll live through it. We'll cry for one day and be okay. That's what I'm saying. But that one day I'll be upset is what I'm saying.

No no like even if you're like happy for one like you should tell yourself hey like this is only a one day thing so why should I cry?

Huh. I'll tell while crying. For twice I'll cry and be like oh no. So I wanted— after that, I'll be fine. In the evening, I'll go for a walk, I'll work out, talk to some birds and all, and be fine. But those 2 hours, I will be very honest, I'm not self-realized enough to not have anything affect me. Things affect. I'm a good enough actor to hide that so other people will not know. That I can do. Hmm. But internally, I will get affected for some time. And as I'm growing older, the time span has shortened. So I'm not upset like before. An audition rejection, I would be upset for like 48 hours, then it became like 4 hours, then like 4 minutes, and like now I'm like I think it out. Okay, so like that, but it will affect. Like I'll tell you. Really नहीं होता आजकल. मुझे नहीं हुआ.

Like like I'll tell you my experience.

That's very cool. I think that's very cool. It's a very amazing quality to have, and I think that's that is it. That is life. That's what we all want.

So I actually 2018 I started a company. Like I and it barely lasted for 45 days, not because it was a bad idea.

What was the idea?

So idea was, okay, every company wanted to compete with Amazon, uh, and they wanted to chase Amazon down and say, we are going to build Amazon-like capabilities though we are a tiny person. You cannot be like— the David-Goliath story only works in stories, you know. That's— forget the— so You need many Davids to fight the Goliath. Okay, so my idea was like you should build a collaborative network of capabilities in the supply chain and operations and other places, and brands can compete on what they do best, which is design clothes and make clothes or make brands, right? So वो मेरा idea था. So can everyone who has physical assets and resources can they put it into a platform where everyone can use the shared resources. So shared economy of all resources and operations, and, uh, you can, um, uh, run your own brand. So I went and pitched this idea to the, uh, CEO of American Eagle Outfitters, and he's a visionary leader. Like David, uh, Jay Schottenstein is like the second generation Schottenstein, uh, third generation Schottenstein. So his grandfather was an entrepreneur, his father was an entrepreneur, he was— he's an entrepreneur. Very nice man.

He's like my father figure.

Okay.

Okay. And so he said like, hey, listen, I have so many brands, come do this with me. And, uh, you know, I will give you all the opportunity to do whatever you want to do. And so like a father, he basically gave me the opportunity to build up that concept from concept into like something which was operationally that I could execute within American Eagle, then buy a company because it was working so well. So within a span of 2 years, we saved close to, uh, every year we were saving $50 million. Okay. And, um, and then basically like, you know, the amount of, uh, inventory that we were able to take out because everyone buys inventory for nothing and then they throw it off in America. So we saved a lot. We saved close to $375 million over the period of 1.5 years.

Wow.

Okay. He said like, okay, like, you know, we were going to invest anywhere in $350 million to do something in your space. We'll instead buy a company. They bought a company. So I ended up like incorporating that company within American Eagle, then built that company from 60 million to 380 million in 90, you know, 9 months. And then we said, okay, let's the brands like you know investor is getting confused, brands are getting confused. So let's give it neutral view. Let's separate the business, get external investment, and spin it off. तो वो प्रोसेस में क्या हुआ कि सारे political antibodies आगे कंपनी में like people are people, no? Like when your incentives are not in alignment with mine, like I'll talk, you know, I'll do crap with you. like artificial boundaries, you know, that's how nations get created, that's how humans behave— power, dominance, control. So all of that nonsense started happening. I said, like, you know, bhai, I want nothing of this. I, I came here to build a company. I think I learned enough. Uh, happy, you know, here's your, uh, business and you take it from here. Let me go do my stuff.

So when I came out what happened was, um, and I had no sort of like, you know, I earned every step of the way what I had gotten. Like, no one is gonna come tell you we'll give you $350 million to buy a company if you have not done anything in life. No. So they did that because I delivered, and I delivered for 5 years. So, uh, so then when I left, people who didn't know me started writing about me. They said like, this fellow Like you know, just bought a company for three fifty million, and then like you know, you know he walked out after a year, and it was you know it was such a bad idea. We should have never done it. I told you so in like two thousand nineteen that it was going to be a flop idea. And people like started like chattering. I said like what the heck? Like you don't even know me, dude.

Everyone has to have an opinion about you, no? Like oh like lick dete hain.

तो एंड डॉट वाज लाइक गोइंग लाइक इन सर्कल्स इन लाइक प्लेसेस एंड आई जस्ट लेफ्ट सो आईएम एक्चुअली लाइक फॉर फाइव इयर्स इट्स लाइक गिविंग बर्थ टू अ बेबी रेजिंग इट रेजिंग इट फॉर फाइव इयर्स एंड देन वॉकिंग आउट विथ समवन एल्स एंड लाइक दैट बेबी इज़ नॉट नॉट योर्स And then I went home when all of this was happening. My wife looks at me and she said, like, do you really want to, like, give in to these guys, what they're saying? I said, no. She said, are you better than these guys? I said, yes, I think so. And she said, like, then let it not bother you. Why is it bothering you? Why should you even talk about that? The fact that you're going to talk, you're going to grieve about it.

Yeah.

And the fact that you grieve about it is going to make you, like, like, you know, you're gonna sulk. And because you're gonna sulk, you're not gonna sleep. Because you're not gonna sleep, you will have like a turbulent day, and you'll have several turbulent days. Do you want to afford that because you have a 3-year-old? I said no, I'll not.

Just generally, yeah, that I think is so right. I think that talking about it, uh, is a terrible idea.

It is.

I really like that. Never talk about it. I totally agree with this.

Assume that it never happened to you.

This is what I follow in life. I just think talking about it just makes it just worse. The more you talk about it, the more you're just—

and, uh, because as you're talking about it, you're trying to reason the right and the wrong.

Yes. And your prefrontal cortex now doesn't know whether this is, uh, real or whether it's made up. And as you tell it with more masala, then that person will also put their masala inputs, then that, and this bad, this bad problem will become badder and badder, baddest and badder and more. So it becomes this awful thing. I think Look, I totally agree with your wife. I, I follow this principle absolutely.

Never talk about it. Never talk about it.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah, don't talk about it.

Unpopular opinion. We'll all be called out for this.

No. Yeah, but it's— who cares?

Yeah, yeah. But in a, in a time and age where people say you should only— I really don't think you should talk about your problems. Like, just deal with it. Or like, nobody's interested also anyways. Deal with it.

Like, let's talk about your new house.

Yes. It's now 2 years old. I know it is, but I didn't talk about it for the first 1 year because I just thought, uh, people were blowing things out of this thing and I wanted it to be very personal.

And why did you choose to move?

What happened? I thought I needed a bigger space because all of us were living and, uh, my granny was getting old. She's 90s. And yes, she also was— she was taking ayurveda and she had a 4, uh, those row houses are there, no? So you have stairs, one room, stairs, one room. So she's fit and all, but I thought it would be nice if we could all stay in one house and if we could all have space in that one house. But rent in Bombay is pretty expensive, and the house that we had in Palia is a one-bedroom thing. It doesn't make sense for everyone. We could stay because we are very accommodating people, but everyone's timings are different. My mum wakes up at 4 AM, we get out in the night for shoots, and like last night we've reached our flight like at 4:30 and Like, our timings are rubbish, you know. I think in the movies your timings are really— so someone who has a disciplined lifestyle. My granny was also teaching, so she liked to stay in Aeroli because she had her tuitions. But then when she stopped taking tuitions, I thought it would be nice if we could stay in one house.

I was looking for places, and I— my only thing was it has to face either the sea or a tree or trees, or— I don't want to face a building. I would be very depressed and sad because I've lived all my life facing a tree. One tree was there. It was a big mango tree. In that tree, they were all— crows were there, squirrels were there, sparrows were there. Everyone was there. I want to face a tree or sea or mountain, anything nature. So I didn't find anything for— actually, I didn't look too much. The 3 houses that I saw, the 3 houses I saw were not nice. One was a very fancy building. Which had a pool and a gym and everything, but its view was other buildings, and I just felt it would be. That was the second one, Nala. They said they said यहाँ view ठीक होगा and there's mangroves. I looked, but it was Nala was there down and the Nala aromas also. And they said but खिड़कियाँ बंद करो हर room में there's AC. But I like keeping windows wide open, so then you get Nala aromas, which I don't want.

So, uh, then this house, my broker said— 3 houses we saw. So one was that building facing, one was Nala Aroma, one was a coming up thing, which intuitively I didn't think was the right thing. It was very nice, but intuitively I said, सही नहीं लग रहा। Then we went to this, and all of us went and we saw it. And, uh, he said, I don't know if you'd want this place, it's been shut for 3 years and all. Uh, but we saw it, and I told my granny, I said, here, this, this happened. She said, we are good people, we've not done anything wrong in life to anyone. If you like this house, take it. And it was so spacious and so large, and, uh, it had the sea. It has sunrise on one side, sunset on the other side, uh, moonrise and moonset also. So I saw—

Whose house is that?

Mr. Lalwani's house. Okay, so it is— the house belongs to Mr. Lalwani, but Sushant Singh Rajput used to live in that house. But I think houses have, uh— I think it's the energy you bring into a house. And I think Sushant Singh was a good actor. And yeah, I get— I don't know him personally. I met him once in my life, but I got very good vibes from him. And I think we bring in the vibes into this house. So I saw it and I was like, I want to live here.

And so like you changed the ground floor into a mandir and then—

I didn't change any layout or structural layouts of the house. We got it repainted because it's shut for 3 years. Yeah. So the walls were— if you shut a house for 2 weeks also, if you go out and leave a house shut, you know how houses get. So everything from the plumbing and all got like really messed up. Um, so we repainted it. We, we didn't change any. I've not broken down anything. It's as is. And, uh, yeah, we made our whatever things we want in each space. So there's a mandir, there's a workout area, there is my piano room and music. It faces the sea. That for me is, uh—

And you guys all like sleep together?

No, everyone now can sleep separately and come in at different times. Uh, you also can't hear stuff in the other room. Uh, it's acoustically very strangely designed, or I don't know if it was thought of, but acoustically you cannot hear. If I play the piano at night really loud also, the voice does not travel out and you can't hear it up in my mom's room.

Hmm.

If anyone comes home late and shuts the door, you all don't wake up. We're all very light sleepers. Like, I wake up with a— I'm up. So the crow comes and taps my window, I'm up. Even if I've slept for 2 hours. So that still happens, uh, I can't stop the crow from waking me up, but no humans in the house, uh, get in anyone's way. I like that.

So let's switch topics. I know that was a topic of discussion too in your life, like, you know, why is she living there? Did she have like—

Oh, that all didn't disturb me, that was not— so that bothered or not bothered, that's not something that even for us—

I don't think like you are like— you get easily be bothered with anything.

I get. I told you for movie thing and all, you're banning my movie. I got— huh?

Only one day, na? That's what you told me.

But I get— no, my intensity of emotion is very high for that one day. I get very hyper and, uh, my heart rate escalates to a point that it could be detrimental to my health. All of that.

Ask your sister to call me and I'll calm you down.

No, and I'm a bull. Stress affects me very badly. Forget that, I get pimples and acne, which for an actor is not good to have. I have been told several times before key scenes in movies by directors also. So yeah, I get acne, so I try to not— and hives also. I break out in 3-dimensional hives which look really scary. You know what an alphabet allergy is?

No, I don't know.

Okay, Google it because it'll sound strange when I say, no one will believe me. But so you get an allergy where you get 3D Almost like A, B, C, it looks like you're possessed. So I get that.

Is that why you got the first movie?

No, no, this is not— I didn't tell them. I, I was so well behaved for those meetings I went, and my only thing was I wanted to look old enough and very mature because it's that Thakurain of that haveli. So, uh, I had heard him give a passing remark saying, I don't know if she'll look, um, the part, you know, we're looking for someone who's mature who says like इस घर में लाइक इट शुड लुक लाइक हर हाउस नॉट लाइक अ किड सेइंग ये मेरा घर है सो आई वाज सो मैच्योर्ड फॉर दैट होल कॉन्वर्सेशन आई पुट ऑन लाइक फ्रॉम व्हेन आई वेंट आई आई डोंट रिमेम्बर इवन लाफिंग और स्माइलिंग और क्योंकि यू नो पीपल सेड यू लुक स्वीट व्हेन यू स्मайл आई वाज लाइक alphabet allergy all over my back and all with stress. So stress is not good, but I do stress. I'm human sometimes.

But you do yoga, no? How do you get stressed then?

I do my backbend, I get up from it. But so yeah, and then also, but I, I think for an actor, uh, all those emotions really help Because when I have to show them on screen, then I can switch from one to the other because in real life, that's what I do. Again, I don't externally show everyone real life. So in real life, people who meet me and even very close to me, they might think I'm very calm and I don't get irritated. I don't scream at people either. I don't yell at anyone. When I'm really pissed off, I just, um—

Walk away.

No, I can stay there also and not do anything. I just won't do anything and I'd be like, okay, now how do we deal with it is how I think.

Technology and, um, uh, uh, art.

I'm so bad at technology, but ask.

So what do you think is like—

Very bad. I think technology hates me.

Really?

Yeah.

Why?

I don't know. Everything around me refuses to— I think I do something and disrupt, uh, technology.

Why is that?

I shouldn't say it, these people. I know I sit for podcast interviews and lights suddenly, uh, this get messed up. The interface of Devices get messed up, Wi-Fi stops working around me. I think technology doesn't like me. I think technology knows that I don't really like it, so technology chooses to not like me back also.

But like artificial intelligence and like movie making, do you think that's gonna have a major impact?

Yes.

How so?

I think AI is like fire, and it can either like burn the whole forest down or it can be used to cook food. Now you can decide if you want to burn the whole forest down, or you can decide— fire can do so many things. Fire has changed our lives. I'm sure when fire first got made, it was considered this dangerous weapon that can— I mean, what, what all you can do with fire? Yeah, you can finish the entire world, you can burn the world down. But with fire, what all you can do? I mean, you can, uh, cook food. You can cook food, you can run trains, you can, uh— I mean, fire is There are innumerable things that can be done with fire. So I think AI is like that. And I think, uh, for us—

Where is it pointed today? Is it like forest fire or is it like cooking food?

Both, no? Both, I think. It's also put everyone in their place, no? I think it's, uh, I think it's kind of an equalized thing with power, how it's taken away power from a lot of people also. I mean, first there were the powerful and the powerless. Right, the ones who had all the money and the resources to, for example, make movies. To, uh, you know, only the powerful and only the connected and only the wealthy and only those people had access and contacts and they could make the movies. Now one person in a village with just that AI tool and his knowledge about it can make a movie that looks better than your movie and get more people to watch it, get more praise, and not have to pay for fake reviews for this thing that he has created. So I think it's a good equalizer also. It puts a lot of us in our places who think that we are the only. And I think everything comes at a time when things cannot be balanced. When there is extreme amount of imbalance, something comes in a way to balance it out. So I think that if you, you know, you say only like nepotism and only nepotism will get films and only they will get and how will outsiders?

Yeah.

So then something like AI just comes and balances everybody and says, now do you. Now who, who has the power? No, none of us.

Yeah.

What nepotism and what outsider and what— there are AI people who you're creating who are— then they said AI can't look. Now you're making flaws, you're giving them little pimples, and then you're feeding in emotions. And I actually saw a reel of an AI person, and this girl, she looked very pretty. They gave her slight flaws in the teeth and slight under-eye, this thing, which made her look look kind of realistic, and she was giving gyan that seemed very nice. I was listening to it, and I was like, AI, but interesting. I'm listening to it.

So, so do you think like you will be able to digitally clone yourself and give it to a movie?

Yeah.

And you'll be fine with that?

Oh, whether I'll be fine with that? Maybe if that's the future of things, and that's— we can say no now. I don't know for how long. I don't know.

And what if they actually did it without your consent?

No one likes things done without consent.

But like, now you don't have a choice, no? Like, you're content.

They're doing already a lot of— That's what I'm saying.

So like, do you not get like—

Some creator did something that day and put me in some video with him where he saved me from some goons and everything. I sent it to all of them. It's actually cool. And that AI of me was expressing. She had like 2-3 nice expressions. She sounded like me also. It was not bad at all. Very well done. And only she was repeating the same expression again. Like, everything was sounding like this, but it was in my voice, but everything sounded like that. And she had just these 3 things happening, but they were happening very nicely. So I think in another 2 months you can add 3 more, and then you would have 6 expressions, and it might be ada. I don't see why not.

And, uh, yeah, I think we should be open to it.

We can all say we don't want to, and we can all say it's wrong and all, and it is. It's taking away jobs of people. And Disney— I, I read something about how all these artists who created stuff from scratch and made sketches, and overnight some— so many people were just fired. I mean, such talented writers, artists, everyone who's actually created things from scratch have lost their jobs. So it's heartbreaking, it's terrible, but it's also something that will take over and—

You have to be open to it.

I— not have to, you don't have a choice. You can say I don't want to be open to it, but I don't know. I don't know. No one knows the future of it. I think that's, that's true.

It's crazy. The only, the only future that I'm hopeful of is that we point it in the right direction.

What is the right direction?

The right direction is like exactly what you said. Like, you could use it to burn down the, the entire world or point it in the right direction to basically like use it.

But like, so for example, like we went to Lucknow recently and this girl, uh, she gifted me these kurtas that she gets made by these artisans who make the kurtas. And she said, I saw a video of you wearing a Lucknowi kurta, but it was a fake one. And I said, oh really? I didn't know that. I bought a kurta from like online somewhere that I thought was nice color and I wore. She said, you wore the fake one because the real kurta, when you make it ulta, you see the dhagas on it. Then you know it's a real Lucknowi kurta. That's the one that those artisans make. It takes 24 hours to make one kurta, I think, right? One day, she said. Yeah, one day to make, uh, one kurta, while a machine can make the same thing in with less effort, less this thing, and better polishing because there's no dhagas if a machine is making it. And a machine can like give you a bulk deal in, uh, like it can give you 20 in a day or something. But now people are doing it and those guys are losing their jobs, and now who will say no?

But I will, you know. So from her I said, okay, okay, now I know this, so I will buy Lucknowi from you. I won't buy Lucknowi like that. I didn't know fake hair. I thought, wow, Lucknowi kurta, it's so nice. Who's turning it over and seeing? And so, but now those guys are losing their jobs. They are all like, uh, switching to other professions because people are not buying, uh, actual handmade stuff.

What did you do? Like, what happened in your case is that you were made literate about the process. Yes. So education is a very important thing. Yes. So people need to start educating on what is the right use of AI. And what is the not so right use?

But who will educate?

We are all watching. It's our obligation.

But we only don't know. No, I mean, I don't know. Do you know what the right use of AI is?

At least I think I do.

Okay. No, but like in movies, till where are we going to use AI and till where are we not supposed to? Like what is right and wrong? I don't know. Like I'll say in the background you can put one. Okay, चलो. That we are all open to. CGI background which we were not open to a few years back. Now everyone's like, हाँ, यह hallway create करो and give depth in the field. Give that whole thing. It'll look like पूरा महल है मेरे सर के पीछे, right? So that we are okay to do. So till where we are okay. Then I'll say one character you make, but don't make me AI, but another character. So then somebody who had the job of say my friend का character, that person's job I'm willing to go away and have this, but mine I don't want going anywhere. So what is the right use of AI? I don't know. Till where? Till it harms me, I don't want it. Everyone, no one wants it till it harms them. So if you're an artist, you don't want an AI who takes away the artist's job, correct? But if I'm an actor, I don't want anyone taking the actor's job.

A musician, you can just create music now on AI. You don't need people singing it, you don't need beats, you don't need instruments. We used to have an orchestra in movies before, right? Like if you see old ones, how they were recorded, you had an entire orchestra, all those people who used to play live. Now you don't need— you press a button and it goes— that goes, this is going on here. So they've lost their jobs and we have switched to like Uh, so I don't know what's right and wrong, but yeah, you do, so tell.

So I, I think, see, there are, there are places where it makes like a lot of sense, like, you know, curing diseases. Curing diseases was a very like consequential problem, like cancer detection, early stage cancer detection, uh, people losing their lives because they don't have access to like a basic MRI or being able to have x-rays done. Right? So these are all things that the world can solve, and we all can afford better healthcare because technology has arrived, right? We don't need as many people. Uh, we do need people, but like the time it takes for you to detect things comes down, and hence you're able to do early detection, and hence you're able to save lives. That's a very good use case. Education, right? Uh, not a lot of kids can afford education. Not all of them can go to good schools, but they can access now better education from better professors in a distributed way. That's a good use of it.

Yes.

Right. The, the financing, right? Like, finance is not available to everyone. It's not democratized, right? So ability to identify, like, like, you know, giving— looking beyond your surface capabilities of who you are as a person and understanding how good of a person you are and giving you a chance to have your own microfinancing capabilities. That's a very good use of AI, right? Not taking away like, you know, Ada and trying to replicate her and basically making a movie and, uh, trying to create something very artificial. Because I think all AI is— what it is trying to do is it's a good DJ.

It's taking away the fun stuff and making us do the mehnat. Actually, it's doing the ulta thing.

Because— and like, it's not even like very close to it needs to be.

Uh, that I have my debates on.

No, no, it is like, it is definitely getting better, but it is not like it— it cannot be like— I have the same— I asked the same question of many artists, including Will.i.am. And Will.i.am, uh, is like, as you know, is like the Black Eyed Peas guy, right? Like, so like, I interviewed him like 3 times now. So he has the same opinion about this. He says that basically creativity is something that is like, you know, you generate as a human. You get creative, but everything that you say, see, is like a remix of like what is already there. So it's like a good DJ, like गाना बनाया है, लेकिन गाने को कैसा like you know mix करना है, वो कर सकता है वो। Correct. So that like you know your expression, whatever you are like you know flickering, right? Like three times that expression that you have, three expressions.

It won't copy it, you're saying?

It can copy, but like it will not do the fourth one, fifth one, tenth one, fifteenth one, twentieth one. one which only you can do today? Today, even in the future?

Oh, I have a lot of faith in it in the future. Emotiveness is something— there was this Will Smith video, you know, a year back where he's eating a burger and it goes like that. So you know it's AI. Like, it goes till here, it's real, and then it goes like that, you know it's AI. And then there's a new one that they've generated now which he goes and he eats, but it's— so it's human, but it's human like that.

It's like a robot.

And then a little while later, it's doing the thing properly, but it's not looking at you. It's looking like here and doing this here. It's not so robotic anymore. It's humanizing itself. I have my faith on it.

That it is going to be like more humanized?

It's replacing humans.

And then what is your job then?

I don't know. Behave yourselves for now. Live in the present. Behave yourselves for now and hope for the best. I don't know. have to pray and then be good now because the future is like, yeah, be nice, accumulate good karma now.

So what happened? So like, what is your alternate profession if this was not to be the case?

Oh God, I don't have an alternate, but I would have figured something out. I would figure something that I really liked to do and do.

Like, what else do you like?

Whatever I did. Like, suppose I chose, say, writing, I would have made that something and then enjoy it and do it. Whatever I did.

You cannot write now because like AI is doing all the writing.

move for future? You're saying— I thought when I started off you asked.

Right now.

Right now? Anything I'll do, anything I do very well. So even if I choose to like wash bartans, I will wash it to more sparkling. If I choose to like farm, I will do it very well. Whatever I do, I'll do a very good job of it. I won't do a wishy-washy way of anything I do, whatever it is. Even if I'm painting these walls here, I'll do a very good job. I won't leave a little this thing left.

It'll be done really Other than like, you know, it was a fun conversation.

It was lots of fun. Me too.

Yeah, like I really like enjoy your energy and like you're a great person.

Thank you.

You too. Yeah, absolutely.

This was fun. This was fun. Yeah.