When Sara Ali Khan walks into her hotel suite to greet me, I see shades of Sharmila Tagore (if you remember her in her debut Hindi film Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964), Amrita Singh (pre-Betaab) and Saif Ali Khan. But all this is just a fleeting thing. After the adaabs have been exchanged, the only focus is the 23-year-old star kid’s huge potential as an actor. Passionate about her career choice, Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan’s first born is armed with a degree from Columbia University (Ivy League), but cinema is her soul food. Looking ethereal in a simple, no-skin-show outfit, her mesmerising face and her ‘virgin’ print-interview enthusiasm has me indulging her. Read on to get to know the real her.

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You’re going to be a star twice over next month with Kedarnath (December 7) and Simmba (December 28). How does it feel?

Overwhelming. To be honest with you, when I hear the word ‘star’, I get a little irked because I feel I haven’t done anything yet to  deserve such words. And in any case, there is internal pressure to ensure that I do well. This coupled with the fact that there are (touch wood) Inshallah, two big films releasing in the same month. It’s a bit daunting, but also exciting and nerve-racking. 

This is your first print interview... 

Yes, it is. I’ve done a camera interview before. This is the first time I’m sitting down on a sofa, talking to you and actually looking into your eyes the whole time. It doesn’t matter that my hair is not tucked behind and nobody is going to be looking at me while I’m talking to you. So, it’s quite nice (smiles).

Would you be embarrassed if I told you that I have seen you as a baby...

As a matter of fact, no. I’m not embarrassed at all. I’m hearing that so much. I live with my mother. My parents divorced nearly 13-and-a-half years ago and it’s been a long time since I stayed with my father. Mom wasn’t a full-time actor when I was with her. That’s why one is kind of divorced from this world. So, when people tell me that they’ve seen me as a baby or a kid, I don’t realise that because I’ve had 12 years of a normal life away from films. It doesn’t mean that till I was around them at six-seven years of age, the media hasn’t met me. It’s just that I tend to forget that.

I’ve known Saif and Amrita for a while. Your father is cool and your mum is fiery. She would normally call a spade a spade...

Yes, what you see is what you get. That’s where the difference between my mother and me ends. You might see us and say, ‘Oh my God, they look so similar’. But when we speak for five minutes, you’ll realise that I’m better with diplomacy than mum is. My mother and I laugh about it all the time.

Speaking of your debut, how exciting is Kedarnath for you?

I’ll tell you about the day the narration took place, I was at Sandeep’s (Khosla) house. So Gattu sir (Abhishek Kapoor), Kanika (Dhillon), the writer, Sandeep and my mother were there. Kanika started narrating the story and I was enchanted and enthralled. By the interval, I was completely hooked. At the end (of the narration), I cried. I’m not an overtly ‘gaana dekh ke, ro diya’ types, it takes a lot to move me (so much). Every single time we read the script, I cried at exactly the same point. I think the way the script was written, in its absolutely nascent stage, and the first time I read it, it was all it took to know. It’s pretty much like everything in life, the more you know, the surer you are. People liked the teaser and the trailer... Inshallah, you will like the film.

The movie went through its own journey of ups and downs...

There have been a lot of downs with Kedarnath, which is something that I’m aware of. People are aware of it, too, as it has been in the papers. There was some bad press around it. Yet, I promise you that there’s never been one moment in my life where I felt anything less than 500 per cent convinced that this is what I wanted to do.

Having watched the trailer, one can see the conviction you show. You seem to have poured your heart into it.

I’m too new to know whatever I was doing is right or wrong. Everyone on the set was so convinced by the script that it felt real. On the set, I didn’t know what it was like to interact with Abhishek Kapoor or Sushant Singh Rajput as human beings because I knew just Gattu sir and Mansoor (Sushant). That’s what we were doing on the set. We spent many hours on so many days like that and I don’t even think that I know whether I was convinced or not, it was my world. I’m not convinced I’m Sara, because I am Sara. There’s no conviction involved when you know. I think that’s what it was. I don’t have craft, experience or wisdom. All you have then is conviction and gut.

You have maintained that you always wanted to be an actor, right?

I knew at the age of four that films are what I wanted to do. I could say ‘I’ve known forever’, but I don’t think you know anything before the age of four. I was fully certain that this is what I wanted to do. I have home videos.

Which we saw on Koffee With Karan...

No, I’m talking about the time when I was five years old. The one that were played on a DVD player, the thing that is ancient now. I remember doing ads like ‘Moov lagaao’, or ‘Washing Powder Nirma’. You know Navneet Nishan? She’s my mother’s friend and I used to go to her house thrice a month just to wear make-up and dance. I was like, this is what I want to do.

So, while I was convinced at four-five, now, so close to Kedarnath’s release date, I’ve a slightly decent understanding of what being in films really entails. What I dreamt of as a kid and the reality are so different that it’s shocking that this is what I wanted as a child, because it’s not all glitter and glamour. Shooting a song is not the most rocking time. It’s also, ‘Oh my God, my heels are hurting... I’m hungry, but I can’t eat because I’ll put on weight’ and all of that. But at the same time, it’s also a lot of fun. At four, I didn’t know what it was that enamoured me about it. But today, when I walk onto a film set, the energy with which people work and create together, for me, it’s the only real meaning in life.

When you were at Columbia and were faring so well academically, did you sometimes think that perhaps, films were not what you wanted?

I was not a bad student. And, yes, when I was at  Columbia, my mind did waver. But...

You’re being modest now, you were bright, to say the least.

Well, in my 10th standard, I topped the Sciences. I scored 100 per cent in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I remember I had got into trouble with my mother for behavioural issues and she wasn’t talking to me. I remember the headmaster from my school called her to say that her daughter had topped in the Sciences. That thawed our cold war. I was so thankful for this. I knew that ‘Results nikal aaye, toh my mom will talk to me again’. I finished my four-year degree at Columbia, which is an Ivy League institution, in three years. So, I guess, I was a good student (smiles).

So, your fantastic grades weren’t enough to wean you away from your thoughts of being an actor?

In the first two years, I wanted to experiment with  History and Political Science, the two subjects I got my degree in. I did a little bit of Economics, too. I consider Columbia as one of the best universities in the world. I don’t know if I’m over-intellectualising this. I tried and enjoyed History, Political Science, Economics and even Chemistry. But when I did theatre in Columbia, the rush I felt being on stage is something I never felt in any other field. That’s when I knew that acting is what I wanted to do. Now that I’m here in films, I better earn my stripes.

Janhvi Kapoor and you are both of a similar age and good friends. But as far as the industry goes, there will be continuous comparisons. And, perhaps even talk of rivalry!

In fact, for the first couple of times, any entertainment website made collages of Janhvi and me, one of us would send it to the other and laugh. However, today it would be weird to do that, she will think I’m a crazy person. Janhvi and I have known each other before our association with the film world. I’ve only love for her and I wish her the best with everything she does. But now, as you say the comparison will start, I think it might be infuriating her that she’s done a damn good film like Dhadak and is liked by so many people. So, she might be turning around and thinking, ‘Iss ladki ka abhi trailer hi nikla hai aur comparison shuru ho gaya’.

Your respective mothers (Amrita and Sridevi) were contemporaries. I remember Amrita saying, ‘Apart from Sridevi, all of us are mediocre.’

My mother still says that. She does tell me, ‘In my generation, there was Sridevi from No 1 to No 10 and everyone else came after that.’ And truth be told, I’ve known Janhvi even before we thought of getting into movies. I think a little healthy competition every now and then is fine. I see her pictures of coming out from the gym and looking superb. If by chance, it’s one of those days when I feel lazy and want to order a pizza, I don’t. The reason is not that she will look better than me. It’s because when I see her working out and looking sexy, I’m motivated. That’s the strain that is continued and which is great. The only people who can counter that is us. You have to be smart, people will say 500 million things. Log toh kahenge na, aap ko sochna chahiye.

So you agree that you’re the best of both Amrita and Saif put together?

I think if you put any combination of Amrita and Saif, you’re going to get something weird (laughs).

You’re going to get something nice, not weird.

Weirdly nice. I’m both, I think. The nice is what people say and the weird is what I know. The uncanny thing is that every time there is an issue at home with mom, she says, ‘Uff, you’re like your father!’ And every time I’ve a fight with my father, he says, ‘You’re just like your mother.’ And then I ask them seriously with a poker face, ‘You realise, when you have children, your genes mix? You didn’t think I would be exactly like you, right? You did this 23 years ago. It’s not my fault.’ But yes, I think I’m a good combination of them. I can relate to them on levels where I think I have imbibed what’s fun from both of them. My father is like the intellectual, worldly and cool one, while my mother is like the warm, real, and soul one. They are great, which is nice.

On Koffee With Karan, you said that you like Ranbir Kapoor and Kartik Aaryan. Apart from them, do you have any favourites among the actors?

Alia Bhatt is my favourite actress for sure because the versatility and consistency with which she surprises you, is almost not surprising anymore. She is so watchable and amazing. It’s not a fun answer because everyone’s favourite these days is Alia Bhatt. So, no points for that. From the boys, Ranveer Singh is a superb powerhouse of talent. I’ve had (touch wood) the fortune of working with him. I would do anything to work with Varun (Dhawan). I think he has a relatable energy to him. People love him. I have interacted with him a couple of times recently. I think it comes from the fact that he’s a really nice human being and I think that shows in his work.