Initially, I was scared of Bollywood: Anupriya Goenka

Actress and model Anupriya Goenka of War fame was in Lucknow for a while enroute Ayodhya for personal commitments. Making most of her time in the city, she visited a café run by acid attack survivors. Having learned from the internet about the café, she spent quite some time with them and heard the stories of the acid attack survivors, patiently. "I feel so good after meeting these girls.These acid attack survivors are heroes in real sense. They are so loving and caring, they also showed me a photo album which had photos of different survivors and told the heart-wrenching stories behind them," she shared.
During her recent visit to the city actress Anupriya Goenka spent some time with the acid attack survivors who run a cafe in Gomti Nagar (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)
The Padmaavat actress also talked about what hurt her the most during her visit there. "The saddest part is that the place (cafe) which is not only a shelter for them but also their source of livelihood and a place where they can feel safe and support each other, is also in danger because they are being asked to vacate the place by the government and a court case is going on for it. I am surprised that we are living in a world like this today where these kinds of things are happening instead of them being given all the support possible. They are not only fighting to stop the acid attacks, they are also being forced to fight for their survival. I really hope we can do something about them," urged Anupriya.
Talking of other things, the Kanpur-born actress has been to Lucknow several times earlier too but not in recent times. "As I was born in Kanpur and lived there till I was seven-eight-years old, I used to often come to Lucknow with my family for shopping or meeting my relatives here. There is a nawabi feeling associated with Lucknow, and jab bhi zehan mein yahan ka naam aata hai toh yahan ki language, yahan ka food yaad aaata hai."
The Dishoom actress is enjoying the success of her recent release War starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff, where she played Aditi, an undercover agent who teams up with the two actors to nab one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Ask her, how it was working with Hrithik and Tiger and she exuberantly replies, "It was really very very nice! Hrithik is an extremely hard working person and very dedicated. He focuses on minute details and he not only thinks about his own role but he also thinks about the entire unit and the film as a whole.” Talking about Tiger Shroff, Anupriya said, “Tiger, on the other hand, is an extremely humble human being and is very sincere towards whatever he does. So, it was a memorable experience of working with him."
During her recent visit to the city actress Anupriya Goenka spent some time with the acid attack survivors who run a cafe in Gomti Nagar (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)
Now a known face in Bollywood, ask her if she is looking for lead roles and Anupriya, without hesitation, said, "Yes, now I am ready for lead characters where I can get a bigger graph. Till now, whatever work I have done I have always got responsible roles where performance was necessary. So, after all my experience, I now believe that I have evolved as an actor."
Sharing her journey from Kanpur to Delhi and then to Bollywood, the Tiger Zinda Hai hai actress said, "My father had a garment business in Kanpur but that was closed when I was seven or eight years old. Then my father started his business in Delhi and by the time I joined his business, after completing my high school, the business again was in heavy loss. So, I had to work in a call center at night while going to the factory in the day time. Later, when I turned 18, due to the heavy losses, my father got mentally disturbed and I had to pitch in to liquidate the assets and moved to Jaipur with my family."
Till then acting or Bollywood was not even in her dreams even though she was doing theatre in between in Delhi. "I did join a one-month workshop in the National School of Drama (NSD) and was doing plays but not on a regular basis. Till then I had never even thought of films or television. Later when I shifted to Mumbai for a month and a half only because of the business issues and also my maternal side of the family lives there, I fell in love with the city. I again joined a job there and spent around seven years before I thought of taking a break in life and doing theatre again," shared Anupriya.
Anupriya, who’s on-screen debut was with Telugu film Potugadu, shot to fame as the face of a political ad campaign in 2013. Since then there has been no looking back for her. "It was an advertisement of a sanitary napkin by Pradeep Sarkar from where he selected me for that political ad campaign. It was Pradeep Sarkar who instilled confidence in me and changed my perception towards Bollywood. Initially, I was scared of Bollywood but after working with dada (Pradeep Sarkar) I felt that good people are there in this industry. Dada was instrumental in my initial success."
From a structured environment of a corporate job to an uncertain life in the film industry, the Kissebaaz actress says the transition hasn’t been smooth for her. “The transition has been very difficult for me, to accept a freelancer’s life took me 3-4 years. From 7-8 auditions daily and then getting rejections in most of them is very hard to digest. I think acting and depression go side by side because you always live in uncertainty ki hoga ki nahi hoga! This profession really tests your perseverance and passion. I think my past experiences and hardships have made me the actor I am.” Ask her what it takes for a girl to be successful in Bollywood and she replied, "Passion with dignity is the most important, according to me. The more you respect yourself, people will respect you. The more you hone your craft, the more people will recognize you."