Anushka Sharma: It’s a talent how Shah Rukh, Salman handle stardom

Anushka Sharma has emerged as one of the most successful young stars of Bollywood but the actress says she cannot imagine herself handling the stardom the way Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan do. Anushka, who made her debut with Shah Rukh in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, went on to star opposite Aamir Khan in PK and Salman in last year’s blockbuster Sultan.

The 28-year-old actress says she has not achieved the superstardom yet, but whatever she has scares her. “I sometimes think about this (referring to stardom) and get scared. I haven’t experienced superstardom like Salman, Shah Rukh or Aamir. But even this (my stardom) can give a false sense, forget about what they face.

“I won’t be able to handle it. It’s a talent the way Salman, Shah Rukh handle their stardom,” Anushka told PTI. Citing an example of SRK, with whom she has collaborated for the third time in Imtiaz Ali’s upcoming project, the actress says, “I recently worked with Shah Rukh and the dedication with which he works, the enthusiasm, the amount of respect he gives to the director despite coming a long way in life, is not easy.”

Anushka may have had a great run at the box office but the actress does not take her success seriously. “I am very sure that if I had become too aware of my stardom, it would’ve been a very difficult process for me. I am a simple person. I’ve never thought that I am special and have believed everyone is just doing their job,” she says. “I believe if I start taking myself too seriously that ‘I am an actor’, it will affect my creativity. Once ego enters your creativity, it destroys you. Stardom gives you a false sense of self. These are transitory things, this will eventually go away,” she adds.
Anushka will complete a decade in Bollywood next year, a journey, which the actress says started as her being restless before eventually enjoying her job. “I was restless in the initial phase of my career because I never planned on becoming an actress. If you had, you would mentally be prepared for what is to come your way.

“When I became an actor, everything came at me like a gush of wind. Suddenly I was famous, people were recognising me. It was all too much for me to take. I didn’t know what to make out of it…which direction I wanted to go,” she says. The actress has now ventured into production and her second film as a producer, “Phillauri” released this Friday. “The only good thing God blessed me with was I knew what I didn’t want to do. I knew I don’t want to do certain kind of films, roles or item songs. Not that it is bad but it wasn’t creatively satisfying for me. It took me a while to feel like I am happy in this situation.”