One year after the stunning success of Chak De India, Anaitha Nair says she is happy with the way her career is going and has set herself a wide set of priorities in terms of her life. “Bollywood is not the be-all and end-all for me. I am not over-awed by big stars and I am not working for money,” she says. “I’m not in a position to choose but I would rather do films that interest me. I don’t want to settle down for something that does not excite me. I am working for the kick that I get out of acting. I want to do sensible character roles like Tabu and Konkona Sen Sharma.”
Anaitha’s next film is Aashayein with John Abraham, in which she plays a cancer patient and John plays a compulsive gambler. The story is about how they come to know each other and learn from each other.
Anaitha had to shave her head bald for her role in Aashayein and it caused her some difficulties when auditioning after the shoot had ended. “It was difficult to grow my hair back,” she explains. “And I couldn’t audition for any other project for a while because people have set notions about the way an actress should look. Consequently, I wore wigs for a couple of my auditions.”
