Anushka: From SRK to Shahid

Aditya Chopra’s promising debutant Anushka Sharma continues her run as a big league player.

After Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, one of the biggest blockbusters of all-time, Anushka is romancing Shahid Kapoor in Parmeet Sethi’s untitled venture. In December, she will team up with super-hottie Akshay Kumar in Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House. “I loved the script the moment I heard it,’’ she confesses. “However, I didn’t want to do anything impulsive. So I slept over it for a day and went back to Nikhil telling him I was most certainly on for the project,’’ says the heroine, who stands almost six feet tall. Anushka adds, “I have never met Akshay Kumar in my life and I’m going to be romancing him in my next project. I can’t tell you how excited I am. First I got to romance Shah Rukh, then Shahid and now Akshay. It is as if I’m walking on a cloud.’’

Has she talked to her godfather Aditya Chopra about this film? “Adi would hate it if I called him my mentor or godfather,’’ she says. “He and I are not friends. He is someone I hold in high regard. He holds a special place for me forever because he gave me a break every girl can only dream of. Adi is also too professional to ask me about the script of another film-maker. And I’m equally professional, so I will not reveal any details. But I can pick up the phone and seek his advice if I wish to. He is always there for his actors/technicians.’’

The Rab Ne girl admits that she is ruthlessly ambitious but will not resort to anything unscrupulous to attain great heights. “I started at the top with Rab Ne. Now I have to work double hard. An actor told me, ‘Anushka, you have been given a silver platter. Keep it clean.’ My desire, therefore, is to always try and put my best foot forward.’’ With her nose buried deep in the Patialia House script, she day dreams. About Akshay Kumar, perhaps ...