Ananya Pandey tries to erase the memories of her ex-lover through AI in her new film ‘Control’. Ananya believes that there should be a balance between technology and social media in life. Along with this, he also talked about relationships in real life and said- I am a very restless person.
Ananya Pandey, who showed the ill effects of social media on relationships in today’s times in her previous film ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’, tries to erase the memories of her cheating ex-boyfriend through AI in her new film Control. However, in personal life, Ananya does not want to forget the memories of any of her relationships. Why? Read this special conversation where Ananya discusses with us her career, relationships, young generation, social media etc.Your previous film ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’, the series ‘Call Me Bay’ and now ‘Control’, all three talk about the young generation, their relationships, the impact of social media and technology. Any special reason for choosing such stories? How much do you feel connected to these characters yourself?
This happened by chance. When these scripts were offered to me, I liked them all. I didn’t think anything then but now that these are being released, I am also feeling that yes, there are some similarities in all of them. When I was selecting, I didn’t realize that they were all so similar, but they are all relatable because these are stories of our generation and our times. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan is one of the few films in which social media and its impact on relationships has been mentioned. That film is about relationships, friendship. Call Me Bay comments on today’s journalism and unfortunately social media is also a part of journalism today. At the same time, this film is about AI, so there are different phases of technology and social media in it, but these are stories of today’s time, so I find them very relevant. I feel connected to these subjects and I don’t think many films are being made on these, so as many such films as I can be a part of, it is good. Years later, when people will see it, they will say that I would have liked to have seen such a film when we were young because it used to happen in our times.
This film is about the impact of social media and AI on our lives. In today’s times, social media has really started controlling our happiness and our dreams. How do you see this change?
I believe there should be a balance in everything. When I was little, the video camera was new. My dad (Chunky Pandey) had a video camera, so I used to steal it and take videos of myself, from that I knew that I wanted to become an actress. I love performing in front of the camera. In this film I have become a social media influencer and this is a proper job from which people earn money. My own cousin Alana and her husband are influencers, so I think it’s great if you can make money doing something you enjoy, but there should be a balance in everything. Especially children should be taught about this at a very early age. I think that in today’s era of social media, it should be included in our education system. Children should be told about the safety of social media, its rules and regulations and advantages and disadvantages in school.
There is a lot of excitement going on about AI that it will change the cinema industry, it can be a threat to it, what is your opinion about this?
Look, be it social media or AI, these are today’s realities. We cannot run away from technology. It is sure to bring change, but as I said earlier, there should be a balance. This change should happen in phases. Everything should not happen in one go because then we will not even know how much the impact of this change will be, because we too have not seen that. Therefore, technology should be incorporated into life slowly and systematically, otherwise once the power is out of your hands, you will have nothing under your control.
You come from Karan Johar’s cinema school, whereas the style of film making of this film’s director Vikramaditya Motwane is completely different from hers. How was the experience of working with him?
Enjoyed very much. I couldn’t believe that Vikram sir wanted to cast me in his film. Since we were creating something new in the film, it never felt like there was one person in charge and he was deciding everything. We were all learning together and creating something new together. This was the experience of all of us.
Recently Anurag Kashyap said that nowadays more of the budget of the film is spent on the huge team of actors and the demand rather than its making. What would you like to say on this?
According to me, everyone should come together and be reasonable. I don’t think our job as actors is to think about these things because if we think about these things, our work will be affected. There are other people to think about. Many times we actors are doing many projects simultaneously, so your attention gets diverted but it is up to you to set a limit for your management that right now I am shooting a film so I am not talking about any brand or anything else. If things don’t work out, you should do what is under your control.
In the film, your character Nela erases the memories of her ex with AI. Would you like to erase any bad memory of your relationship or ex?
No, because whatever relationships are there, there are some happy memories associated with them, so I would not want to delete any of them.
Would you like to eliminate any of your bad habits?
I am a very restless person, I cannot sit still, it would be good if AI could calm me down.
Would you like to delete any unsolicited advice from people?
People who comment on your looks whether you gain weight or lose weight. Move your lips like this, change your face like this, I would like to eliminate those who give such advice.