Popular TV actress Sanaya Irani is playing the leading lady in Vikram Bhatt’s Ghost. Known for portraying memorable roles in TV serials like Miley Jab Hum Tum, Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?, Chhanchhan, Rangrasiya, she has previously done a cameo in the film Fanna.
Working in Ghost, says the actress, is a new beginning for her. “The promotions have been maddening but I am excited because it’s something new for me,” she says. The film, which also stars Shivam Bhaargaava, is releasing today.
Talking about how she decided to do the film for a friend of hers, she says, “He was supposed to be part of the film and he wanted me to do it. I was shooting for a web series when he called me and was like, ‘I have been auditioning people but can’t find anyone. I know you can do it’. Then I met Vikram and he was also confident about me being able to play this character. I was left thinking that when these two people believe in me, I should start believing in myself too.” She shares that her character Simran Singh is the hero of the film. “You don’t always get an opportunity to carry the film on your shoulders. For somebody who hasn’t done films before, I wouldn’t have got this opportunity again,” she says, adding, “Also, I haven’t played a character like Simran before. She is a very complex, she has demons of her own which she is fighting. I called Vikram and told him that I think Simran has issues, and he was like, ‘that’s the beauty of the character’.” She further adds that it was challenging to portray these complexities in a three-hour story. “I had to bring out her complexities to make the audience fall in love with her. It’s always easy for the audience to connect with a character who is happy-go-lucky and positive, but how do you make them feel a connection with someone who is so negative, complex and hardly smiles,” she adds.
Ghost is a complete image makeover for Sanaya as we have mostly seen her play the ‘perfect bahu’ on the small screen. “People are going to see me in a different avatar. Having said that, it’s not easy to portray a bahu and beti on screen either because none of us are like that in real life. Lets not take away their credit,” says she, adding, “I didn’t look at the film as a makeover but as a challenge because I hadn’t played such a character before.”
There has been much talk about the bold scenes in the film, but Sanaya maintains that there is just one kissing scene and nothing more. “It was just a moment. It’s a horror genre so we don’t have time to explore the love story. So the kissing scene is crucial for the plot,” she says, adding that she had no apprehensions about kissing or bold scenes, if it was important to the story.
As for working with Vikram Bhatt, she says that she couldn’t have asked for a better teacher. “He is such an experienced filmmaker, yet he was so calm and patient. Though I worked in the TV industry for 10 years, I realised that my sensibilities for movies were null. But he explained why he didn’t want me to do certain things. I would freak out during the shoot, but he was sure that I could play it,” says the actress who is a huge fan of the horror and thriller genre.
