Sanya Malhotra on working with Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan

Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan

Debuting with an Aamir Khan-led blockbuster and featuring alongside Shah Rukh Khan, a few years later, sounds like the stuff of dreams. But for Sanya Malhotra, who forayed into films with Dangal (2016), it's a reality. The actor's next, the Atlee-directed Jawan, will see her share screen space with Shah Rukh. Having worked with the two superstars has not only left Malhotra with a treasure trove of learnings, but also given her insight into the reason for their unmatched success. "It's the way they conduct themselves on set. They deserve to be where they are [because of] the passion that they have for their job and the films they do," she says.

Besides Jawan, Malhotra has an eclectic line-up of films this year that includes Meghna Gulzar's Sam Bahadur and the much-anticipated adaptation of the Malayalam drama, The Great Indian Kitchen (2021). Attempting a retelling of an acclaimed movie can often be tricky. But under director Arati Kadav's leadership, the actor says that she wants to take the powerful story - of a new bride who feels suffocated in a patriarchal household - to a wider audience. "We have a very good film in hand. I am confident the audience will love our film the way they loved the original. It's an important story that has to be told," she says, adding that the movie's feminist theme instantly resonated with her. "It's a conscious choice to pick such roles. The [gender] politics is always on my mind while selecting films."