"Friendly human, encouraging, and sweet." This is how Sara Arjun describes her Dhurandhar co-star Ranveer Singh, who the actor says, has spoiled her forever.
In Dhurandhar, Sara Arjun plays Yalina Jamali, the opinionated daughter of a scheming Pakistani politician Jameel Jamali (Rakesh Bedi). She falls for Ranveer Singh's Hamza Ali Mazari, an aspiring gangster who in real life is an Indian intelligence agent deep undercover in Pakistan.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Sara Arjun talks about Dhurandhar co-star Ranveer Singh, the controversy around their age gap, and "pinch-me" moment with Sanjay Dutt.
The 20-year-old actor said she couldn't have asked for a better co-star than Ranveer Singh in Dhurandhar. She said the Bollywood star made her feel comfortable on set and working with him was an "easy-breezy experience".
"He is just such a friendly human, and he's so encouraging, so sweet. I didn't feel intimidated at all. He never used his seniority to make me feel like that. In fact, he was the most encouraging person, he's just the best. I love him so much as a person, and I always say that he's going to be my most favourite co-actor...
"No matter who I work with in the future, I don't think anybody can top Ranveer, he has set the bar so high. As an actor, he's so involved in his own craft, but he also takes care of the whole set. He looks at it (filmmaking) as teamwork. He's equally involved in what you are doing, and equally involved in what the person on set was designing, the set is doing. So those things really matter. He carries all of us together," she said.
Besides being co-stars who were paired opposite each other in Dhurandhar, Sara Arjun and Ranveer Singh also bonded over their Sindhi roots. The young actor is the daughter of actor Raj Arjun and dance teacher Sanya Arjun, who are both Sindhis.
"We were both very happy to be the two Sindhi leads of Dhurandhar. We spoke about Sindhi food too," she added.
When the first look of Dhurandhar was dropped on Ranveer Singh's 40th birthday last year, besides the action, and scale of the film as well as the looks of the lead cast, what also caught audiences' attention was Sara Arjun. Everyone wanted to know who this new heroine was opposite Ranveer Singh in the high-stakes espionage thriller, billed to be based on "incredible real events".
Soon, it was known to people that Sara Arjun, an established child star who was now all of 20, was paired opposite Ranveer Singh who was just twice her age. Social media was full of think pieces and rants about male stars romancing heroines half their age, but all that stopped once Dhurandhar released.
As much as everyone is entitled to their opinion, Sara Arjun said she was absolutely cut off from social media before the release of the film so the Internet debates around the age difference between her and Ranveer Singh didn't really reach her. Her inactivity on social media also helps her block out all the "noise".
"All the noise (is) on social media, right? And I'm not very active. I didn't partake in it much... I also feel everybody has an opinion. I really believe in 'live and let live'... It's their opinion... It doesn't do anything to how I think... I knew the story and I knew it was justified and that's it," she added.
The actor attributed her distant relationship with social media to her boarding school education.
"I'm a bit far away from all these things... My parents show me nice things and I enjoy it... I'm still very inactive on social media and when it comes to reading social media news and all... This was all pre release, so at that time, I was barely checking anything.
"The boarding school that I was in, we didn't really have any devices during the course of our education. And when I came out, I got so busy, and I didn't develop the habit for it. So, I don't have that habit yet. And I like that about me... I go on it when I really need to be on it and either post, when I want to say something. Otherwise for my entertainment, I choose other things. Whenever I get free time, I just go on a trip. I can't sit in one place."
Sara Arjun has practically grown up on film sets and worked with greats across industries, such as Vikram, Nassar, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Even then, the actor said she was overcome with emotion whenever it would hit her that she was a part of a big film like Dhurandhar.
"I would always have this pinch-me moment, and I would always be like, 'Oh my god, what is happening around me? All of this is such a big deal. The people that I'm sitting with, the people that I'm performing with, these are the people I've admired for years. I was more starstruck by the whole situation, rather than one particular person. I was just very happy to be there," she said.
But there was a time, the actor was awestruck when she saw Sanjay Dutt on the Dhurandhar set for the first time.
"When some people say somebody has a really strong aura. I definitely felt that he (Sanjay Dutt) has a very cool, strong aura," she said.
Before Dhurandhar Part 2, Sara Arjun will be seen in Telugu movie Euphoria, which hits the screens on February 6.
Also Read | Exclusive: Dhurandhar Star Sara Arjun Reveals What To Expect From Dhurandhar Part 2
