Happy Birthday Anushka! Here are times you broke the norm
Anushka Sharma turns 31 today, and her cricketer-husband Virat Kohli has planned a special private dinner for them. Let us also celebrate her today, because she deserves it. With no godfather in the industry, Anushka slowly established herself as one of the top actors in Bollywood. She has also often taken steps that have left us surprised. Let's take a look.
Could you spot Anushka in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'?
But before we start, here is a fun fact about Anushka. Before venturing into acting, she was a model, who made her runway debut in 2007 at the Lakme Fashion Week for Wendell Rodricks. In 2006, Lage Raho Munnabhai got released. Did you know Anushka had a 'cameo' in it? Don't fret if you have missed her, because she appeared in just a picture.
She is one of the youngest producers in Bollywood
Anushka is one such actress who launched her production house, along with her brother Karnesh, when she was just 25, becoming one of the youngest producers in Bollywood, and named it Clean Slate Films, a thing not many of her contemporaries dared to do. She was just 7-8 films old in Bollywood, but Anushka wanted to tell stories that are different and clutter breaking.
Anushka will produce a web-series based on Tarun Tejpal's book
If you look at the types of films her production house has churned out, you will realize those are indeed different. Right from a NH10 (2015), to Phillauri (2017) and Pari (2018), Anushka was lauded for all these films, regardless of their box office performances. She will next produce a web-series based on tainted journalist Tarun Tejpal's book, The Story of My Assassins.
On her debut, she refused to do impromptu screen test
Anushka has a zing. Probably this is the reason why she was chosen as the female lead opposite superstar Shah Rukh Khan in Aditya Chopra's romantic drama Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008). Did you know she actually refused to do an impromptu screen test and took a day to prepare for it? Such guts from a debutante, but that's Anushka for you!
Anushka married at 29, breaking Bollywood's norm, setting a trend
Anushka, a private person, has never responded to any of the rumors surrounding her personal life. When she started dating Kohli in 2013, she remained silent, and this she maintained even when she married him in 2017, in Tuscany, Italy, at 29, stunning everyone. Anushka was at her peak then, and this broke Bollywood's norm of actresses getting married when their careers are ending.
In the film industry, we've no unity, Anushka had said
Known as a straight-forward person, Anushka has spoken out against Bollywood many times. She has been vocal about the pay disparity that exists in Bollywood, and has also said that the industry lacks a system. "In the film industry, we have no unity. We lack respect for each other even though we try and forge it," she had said this way back in 2012.
She supported India's first transgender band, spoke out for animals
Anushka also won hearts when in 2016, she supported India's first transgender band, the 6-Pack Band (initiated by Y-Films), and lend her voice to their first single. She is also a known animal rights activist, who condemned the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, and started a campaign to sensitize people on effects of pollution on animals. We wish you a very happy birthday, Ms. Powerhouse!
