'Cold emailed 50-70 production houses': Aneet Padda details struggles
What's the story
Aneet Padda, who shot to fame with her performance in the recent blockbuster Saiyaara, recently opened up about her early struggles as an actor. In a candid interview with Cosmopolitan India, she revealed that at 17, she had resorted to sending cold emails to 50-70 production companies in a bid for work. This was during the pandemic when she was desperately searching for credible opportunities.
Acting journey
When she stopped dreaming for a while
Padda discovered her passion for acting at a young age, performing in school plays. However, she faced a lack of support from her friends and father initially, which made her insecure. "For the longest time, I told myself, 'You are so silly for even wanting to do anything about this.' I stopped dreaming for a while," she said.
Industry challenges
She ended up on scam websites looking for auditions
At 17, Padda began her online search for acting auditions but ended up on scam websites. She later described these sites as "scams, basically." "Almost every production house in the Hindi film industry has my audition tape, a terrible biodata, and Snapchat filter pictures," she confessed. Eventually, she learned that it was casting agencies that negotiated opportunities for actors.
Career breakthrough
On her career so far
Padda made her acting debut in Revathi's Salaam Venky, which also starred Kajol and Vishal Jethwa. She then appeared in the web series Big Girls Don't Cry on Amazon Prime Video. However, it was Mohit Suri's Saiyaara that catapulted her to fame. The film, co-starring Ahaan Panday, became one of the highest-grossing films and the biggest romantic drama ever in Indian cinema with earnings of ₹569.75 crore worldwide.