Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Your peppy number “Fashion Queen” has become a Chic Anthem with a Punjabi twist and has crossed over 1 million views on YouTube. Share with us your experience shooting this number & the rigorous training that went into its making, on your part.
Ms. Soundarya Sharma:
Well yes “Fashion Queen” is a great song and it has great energy. Everyone loved it. I still remember when Kangana Ranaut had introduced me and my song to the media, I was so thrilled and so excited, because Kangana has always been my favorite and I think we all get inspired from her journey. And she coming, introducing and loving my performance in Ranchi Diaries was a big deal for me.
The experience of working on Ranchi Diaries and Fashion Queen has been absolutely great. Again I would like to say that I did not get much time to rehearse for Ranchi Diaries, because we got the song very late and I remember I had this sprain in my left ankle at that time, I had twisted my toe. I hardly rehearsed for two days and that too for only 7-8 hours. So we shot the song in two days and it came out really well. It was a great experience for me and when the song came out right from Sonam Kapoor to Hritik Roshan, these people are considered the biggest fashion icons, they had tweeted about me and about the song. It was a big, big thing for me, because I don’t come from the film industry or share a big surname, so it was a big deal for me. I am extremely lucky and grateful to have such a great song in my debut film. It will stay with me, even when I complete my 20th or 30th film.
Training was actually very strenuous, because you are shooting the debut song of your career, and it was strenuous because we didn’t have the song till the last minute because there were some composition changes going on and some technical issues, so we didn’t really know what we were dancing on, we just had the outline of the song. But thankfully it came out really well and people loved it. I was really happy and thankful to God for giving me this wonderful song like “Fashion Queen”, it really defines, it really is a Chic anthem, it really defines a girl especially a debutante like me. Because Ranchi Diaries is a very performance oriented film, and it is a film that revolves around Guria, my character. And in that film you get to perform such a song which is not an item number, but is a dancing song, it feels really great to having being performed in a film like Ranchi Diaries and then Fashion Queen. It was a rare combination. These days if you see, Alia Bhatt is doing Highway, Raazi, Kriti Sanon did Bareilly ki Barfi, all went de-glam to prove themselves as good actors. But in Ranchi Diaries it gave me a platform to prove myself as an actor and yet as a glamorous doll. It was the perfect dream role for any girl or debutante to start with. Infact this Guria’s character gave wings to Guria’s and Soundarya’s dreams, both of our dreams.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
With an audience of over 311K followers on your Instagram account @iamsoundaryasharma you’re a social media sensation and an internet leading star. How does it feel that you are able to inspire and motivate so many individuals?
Ms. Soundarya Sharma:
I love being on social media. It’s only been five months since I joined Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. It was Kher sir who told me that in today’s time, you cannot be keeping away from social media. Ranbir and Kangana can to do it because they are Ranbir and Kangana, but you cannot afford to do it because you are just starting out now.
I thought that there were too many negative things and I used to wonder how can you tell them a positive thing when you are constantly thinking about what people are talking or how many likes you’ve got. So I was not in favour of it but Kher sir was the first person who helped me Tweet from my account for the very first time and same on Instagram. I’ve very happy that in such a short span of time, I’ve got over 2 lakh followers and over 25000 on Twitter. I definitely enjoy it but it gets tiring beyond a point. It can sometimes really make you addictive. One day I had posted something and at 1: 30 a.m. I got so curious that I woke up and I started stalking things. So it can get really addictive but overall I love it.
It is inspiring to see if someone is getting motivated with what little I have achieved. It is a great feeling and for all those of you out there, I’d like to say Thank you and Love you for all the support, I really need it. Keep supporting, keep blessing, keep sharing good things, good vibes.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
For your performance in Ranchi Diaries, you were well appreciated and were also nominated for the best debutante. How does it feel to have your hardwork and determination being rewarded and appreciated?
Ms. Soundarya Sharma:
It feels great that my performance in Ranchi Diaries was very well appreciated by critics. People said the best thing about Ranchi Diaries is Soundarya Sharma, which I don’t believe because the film is actually very good. It felt great when I got to know that I was being nominated as Best Debutante at Star Screens and Zee Cine. I had never expected since I’ve grown up watching these awards in the television. When you’re not from the industry and you want to be those and suddenly you do a debut film, which is not a YRF kind of a film and it gets critically acclaimed and over that you get nominated for Best Debutante, so I was on top of the world. The kind of recognition that I was getting is something beyond my imagination, because I have worked really hard. Put in my everything, my heart and soul in becoming an actor, I have started from the scratch, so it feels great. I still remember the days when I used to lie at my house for my night duties, I used to save my stipend and come to Bombay and I didn’t even know which part of Bombay do I have to go to. So from those days to this day, where I have mastered the location of offices of every production house and people have been very kind to me, they are calling me and atleast meeting me. And hopefully, I will do some nice work in Bollywood. But from those days to this day itself is a great achievement.
People around me were so negative, de-moralising me, like one casting director even said that you’re not anyone’s girlfriend or share a big surname, then what made you think that just being pretty and having learned acting from great schools will make you an actor. That shook me and gave me a reality check. So Ranchi Diaries was a great achievement for me, to have the support and faith of Kher sir in my life, is again a big achievement. Then being nominated for the Best Debutante further motivated me and it will motivate me for next 100 years. Because this is something I wanted to start with, you don’t become a star overnight. All the big stars, if we see their journey, it has taken them 5-7 years to become who they are, be it Deepika, or Kangana, or Shahrukh Sir. So I’m happy and glad that I got recognised and I got noticed being an outsider. Karan Johar sir had unveiled Fashion Queen, which was itself a huge thing for me and Salman sir had unveiled the teaser and trailer of Ranchi Diaries which was again really big, so I have no complains. It feels great.
