Actor Sanjana Sanghi says she wants to build box office viability

Mumbai, Nov 4 (PTI) Actor Sanjana Sanghi, most recognised for roles in movies “Dhak Dhak” and “Dil Bechara”, says she strives for both critical and commercial success.

The 27-year-old actor started her movie career with supporting parts in films “Rockstar”, “Hindi Medium” and “Fukrey Returns”.

She made Bollywood debut as a lead opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in “Dil Bechara” (2020) and followed it up with “Rashtra Kavach Om” (2021), co-starring Aditya Roy Kapur and “Dhak Dhak” (2023). Her last two theatrical releases were not commercial hits.

“At every stage of your career commercial success is welcome. The stakes for top actors may be very high because there are so many expectations pinned on them. In your nascent stage, it is a known thing that nothing works like success does.

“However, today because of how the box office pattern has become where nobody knows what pulls audiences to theatres, the younger lot like us have not had a chance to build commercial box office viability,” the actor told PTI in an interview.

Sanghi further said the emergence of streaming services has altered the definition of success in the past ten years.

“We have come into a hybrid industry. The scenario was different from when Ranveer (Singh) or Anushka (Sharma) debuted 10 to 15 years ago when box office was the only teller. Now, the landscape has changed. We are all evolving with time.

“The new box office meter is the audience’s love for your character. For me, Dil Bechara’ was one that showed me how far and wide a film on OTT can travel, because wherever I go people know Kizie Basu (her character from the film).”

Citing the example of her latest release, “Dhak Dhak”, co-starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Dia Mirza and Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanghi said she deliberately picks films that are not “safer”. The road-trip movie, backed by Taapsee Paanu and Viacom18 Studios, received mixed response upon its release.

“It (film) is something that I had to be part of because it is such a big deal where four women can be on the poster of the film. It is not a safer choice because it doesn’t have any of the classic tropes of commercial Hindi cinema where there’s no big hero or song and dance. It is a unique choice to make and it is a choice I made for myself,” she said.

The actor will next be seen in family drama “Kadak Singh”, helmed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury of “Pink” fame. It features Sanghi as Pankaj Tripathi’s on-screen daughter.