Anjali Anand: ‘I don’t want pity. I want the lead role’

The trailer of Dhamaal 4 has everything audiences have come to expect from the franchise mdash slapstick loud humour and an ensemble cast But amid the flying punches and comic mayhem one thing stood out actor Anjali Anand wasnrsquot just another face in the crowd She was paired opposite Riteish Deshmukh dancing in songs featuring prominently in the promotions and occupying space that mainstream Hindi comedies have rarely offered women who donrsquot fit Bollywoodrsquos conventional beauty templateIt also reopened a familiar debate Can commercial Hindi cinema move beyond using a plussized actor as the butt of a jokeAnand doesnrsquot dodge the question ldquoI was hesitant in the beginningrdquo she says ldquoEven I didnrsquot want to represent something where the body becomes the conversation I told myself lsquoIf I donrsquot do this part someone else willrsquo Rather than giving this responsibility to somebody else I wanted to play the character and play her the way she should be played I didnrsquot want her to become a bechari who simply keeps listening to peoplerdquoA still from Dhamaal 4ldquoThose films are still being made because society still thinks like this People can argue with me but I always tell them lsquoGo and read the comments on my social mediarsquo Therersquos a lot of love yes but there are also people who have never seen someone like me getting a lead partrdquoThe word ldquofatrdquo she says has acquired a power it shouldnrsquot have ldquoFor me lsquofatrsquo isnrsquot an offensive word Wersquove conditioned ourselves to think thin is good fat is bad fair is good dark is bad Irsquove spent years changing that conditioning in my own headrdquoUnlike many public conversations around GLP1 weightloss drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro Anandrsquos response isnrsquot moralistic ldquoMy weight has never made me unhappyrdquo she says ldquoPeople have made me unhappy because of my weight Therersquos a differencerdquoShe laughs when she is told people assume she must be unhealthy ldquoI probably have the best blood reports among people I know I trek I dance for hours I go scuba diving I paraglide Irsquove never looked at myself as somebody who needs fixing If somebody wants to take a GLP1 because it genuinely makes them happier then please do it but under a doctorrsquos supervision Who am I to judge We have medicines for everything If this helps somebody live a happier life why shouldnrsquot they The question is whether yoursquore doing it because you want to or because yoursquore listening to everyone elserdquoAnand has become one of the few actors expected to shoulder conversations around representation while simultaneously navigating an industry that still views her body before her talent The irony isnrsquot lost on her ldquoI donrsquot see my bodyrdquo she says matteroffactly ldquoI just see myself as a person In the beginning I got swept into the whole body positivity movement Later I realised thatrsquos not me Irsquom not body positive Irsquom just a good person and I expect other people to be good peoplerdquoThree years have passed since Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani 2023 introduced her to a much wider audience as Ranveer Singhrsquos warmhearted sister Ironically she says success hasnrsquot quite given her an identity of her own ldquoPeople still call me Ranveerrsquos sister Now theyrsquoll probably call me Riteishrsquos wiferdquo she laughs ldquoThe day people call me Anjali thatrsquos when Irsquoll feel like theyrsquove actually started seeing merdquoThat recognition she believes still comes most powerfully through the big screen ldquoWhen we were growing up social media didnrsquot exist Brands didnrsquot exist OTT didnrsquot exist Those things are wonderful and I hope I keep getting more work there But therersquos something about the big screen Thatrsquos where your inner child lives Irsquom hoping Dhamaal reminds people that I still exist This is my tenth year in the industry Everybody tells me somebody should write a great film for me I hope God is listeningrdquoFor Anand perfection has never been the goal ldquoI donrsquot want to spend my whole life trying to become perfect I want to live my life A hundred years from now people wonrsquot remember any of us Why should I waste my life chasing somebody elsersquos definition of beautyrdquo The answer perhaps explains why she continues to choose visibility She knows Dhamaal 4 wonrsquot end Bollywoodrsquos dependence on easy fat jokes overnight But she hopes a few will remember something else That a woman who didnrsquot fit Bollywoodrsquos conventional mould stood at the centre of one of Hindi cinemarsquos biggest comedy franchises and looked like she belonged there all along