Actor Sanjeeda Shaikh has had a year to remember. She was first seen in Dhamaal 4, in an important supporting role that found praise from the audience. The film itself was a box-office success. Weeks later, she was in Ikka, a Netflix film starring Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna, where she held her own against the big stars, and again earned praise for the grey shades in her role. In conversation with Hindustan Times, the actor unpacks her year and talks about what is ahead.
On the diversity of Dhamaal 4 and Ikka
Sanjeeda calls the drastic diversity in her two characters and the two films’ genres accidental. “It just came to me. Jo hota hai na ki aapke naseeb mein jo hota hai woh aapko milta hi hai. (It’s like whatever is in your destiny, you get it),” she says. Talking about how she chooses roles at this stage of her career, the actor elaborates, “ I just want to do characters which are out of my comfort zone because it polishes me as an actor. I think it’s very important for me to challenge myself. Doing the same pattern of roles becomes a little uninteresting for me.”
Ikka was one such role, as it allowed the actor to portray both a hapless domestic abuse victim and a manipulator with hidden intentions. She recalls her conversation with director Siddharth P Malhotra. “I told Siddharth ‘hum isko bahut natural tareeke se karenge (we will do this in a very natural way)’. The character was totally grey, so she had to appear natural,” says Sanjeeda.
On learning professionalism from Sunny Deol
The actor says she also learned a lot while being on the film’s set, notably how Sunny Deol navigated the final schedule of filming despite his father Dharmendra’s death. I remember Sunny sir coming for the shoot. Dharam sir had just passed. And I would say kya professionalism hai yaar! Iss level pe aa ke toh bol bhi sakte hain na ki ‘Yaar ek hafta, das din shoot band rakho, main nahi aata aaj set par kyunki I don’t feel like shooting.’ (At his level, he could have said, ‘Please keep the shoot closed for a week or ten days, I’m not coming to the set today because I don’t feel like shooting.) But no, that man used to come to the set, do his work, and leave. Toh bahut kuch seekhne ko milta hai (I learnt a lot from him).”
Sanjeeda adds that the lessons came to her from observing the senior actors she worked with in her recent films, including Sunny, Ajay Devgn, and Akshaye Khanna. “All of them, they just come and do their work so professionally. These are accomplished actors. They don’t come to the set with any burden. They are so great that you learn a lot just by watching them ki aap jitna humble rahoge na, utna hi zyada tikoge industry mein. (that the more humble you remain, the longer you will last in the industry),” says Sanjeeda.
The actor says she is taking this success in her stride and just trying to stay level-headed. “One wants to keep doing good work. One wants to keep working hard, and I think somewhere it makes me feel, and my heart feels, that I am on the right path,” she says.