“Wanted someone young who is internet savvy “: Vikramaditya Motwane on choosing Ananya Panday for CTRL

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 7 (ANI): Vikramaditya Motwane, who is best known for pushing boundaries in Indian cinema with his diverse films across genres, has now ventured into the digital space with his latest film CTRL, which stars Ananya Panday in the lead role. The director, who has previously worked on films like Udaan, Lootera, and Trapped, brings India’s first screenlife thriller — a story told entirely through the lens of Artificial Intelligence.

In the film, Ananya plays Nella Awasthi, an influencer who, after a painful breakup, turns to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to erase her ex-boyfriend Joe from her life.

While speaking to ANI, Motwane shared what made him choose the ‘Gehraiyaan’ actress as the perfect fit for the role. When asked why he believed Ananya was the ideal choice, Motwane said he was looking for someone who could connect with today’s generation, someone who is young, someone who is “internet savvy,” and also someone who “gets trolled a little bit.”

“I saw her performance in ‘Gehraiyaan’ and really liked it. She was so special in that film — so unique and so present. I loved it. So, the moment the script was ready, it was a no-brainer to approach her. I wanted someone young, someone social media savvy, internet savvy, and Instagram savvy, who has a strong presence, you know? Someone who comes across as youthful and a youth icon. She also, in a way, gets trolled a little bit, and maybe that played a part in it. But mainly, I just love her as an actress.”

Motwane also shared how the idea for CTRL came about, saying he has always been a big fan of screenlife films, drawing inspiration from movies like “Searching and Unfriended”.

“I think it was just the idea of making this really interesting thriller. I’ve been a big fan of previous screen-life films. I think the inspiration, in that sense, has come from movies like Searching and Unfriended, which have used this screen life format — this voyeuristic way of looking at someone’s computer. That has been a huge inspiration, Motwane shared

“Avinash Sampath and I worked on this. He came up with the story, and we liked it right away. It felt like a very cool thriller for the new audience, you know, the one that spends so much of their lives on social media and online. From there, one thing led to another, and it eventually turned into this film,” he added.

The movie marks Ananya Panday’s second OTT release this year, following her debut in the series ‘Call Me Bae’ in September. Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, the film also stars Vihaan Samat, best known for his role in ‘Mismatched’.

The cyberthriller was released on October 4 on Netflix and is now available for streaming.