When Pihu Sand tells you that she has never ever acted before and this is her first acting experience, it’s a little difficult to believe. The trailers of Fanney Khan has been garnering a lot of interest. Pihu who plays the main character in the film which mainly deals with the issue of body shaming seems to fit into the role perfectly.
Pihu who is all excited about her first release tells us that the film has everything! “It has dance, it has music, it has drama etc. This film is a musical drama it has everything.”
Speaking about her co-star Anil Kapoor who plays her father on screen, Pihu says that she has watched his films ever since she was a child. And even though he is such a seasoned actor, he never made a newcomer like her feel like she was new. “He never taught me anything literally but what I did learn watching him on set is to earn something. For example, if you diet for 5 days religiously then you earn a certain achievement. Also learnt to work hard from him.” Pihu says that the best part about her role in Fanney Khan was that throughout the film she is screaming at Anil Kapoor! “But in real life, I was very nervous to be working with him,” she laughs.
It’s not the Bollywood actresses but the actors who inspire this gutsy girl. Her latest crush is Vicky Kaushal but she admits she had a crush on Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor.
Even though Pihu says that she didn’t have any scenes with Aishwarya, she did meet her and she felt honoured by what Aishwarya told her. Pihu says, “She told me; ‘Many many more films to you’ and coming from such a big star who I have grown up watching and dancing to her songs is a big thing for me.”
As far as her on-screen character is concerned, Pihu says that the two of them are quite similar. “I relate to my character Lata, in the film because she loves singing and is passionate about what she wants to do, so am I. She loves singing,I love dancing. And then both of us are fat and have faced body shaming. The only difference between me and my character is that while Lata does not like old songs, I love the old songs,” informs Pihu.
Speaking about body shaming and the things she had to face during her growing up years, Pihu says, “I went through a lot in school because of my weight. People would make fun of me even though I was famous for being talkative and for my dance. I dealt with it myself even though I did tell my mom about it, I dealt with it myself. I did feel bad about it and it was hurtful but I didn’t give a damn about it. While there were those handfuls of people who made fun, especially boys who thought they were the popular ones, there were also people like my family and some close friends who supported me and encouraged me.”
Pihu says that she always wanted to act because her parents are theatre actors. “I am happy that people are supporting Fanney Khan not because we have some top actors but because of the content and we are talking about something which is not often spoken about. Most of our movies talk about how good looking clothes, stunning people etc.but it is important to know what overweight people go through in their daily life,” adds Pihu.
Extremely confident and at ease in her own body, Pihu is an inspiration to all those who are ashamed about the way they look. She very matter of factly tells us; “ I wanted to lose weight not because I was fat and people made fun of me but I wanted to do that for myself, for health issues. I think you should lose weight not because you want to look slim and good, but because it is important to be healthy. So many people depend on you, wait for you to get home if you don’t stay healthy then what is the point for all the love you get or show. For all those facing body shaming I would like to say please understand what you want to do in your life and follow that. Nobody can stop you from doing it. Do everything that you with confidence.
If not an actor Pihu would have been a chef. We’re glad she chose to act and Bollywood has yet another name added to their list of talents. Here’s wishing Pihu All The Best! for her debut film Fanney Khan.
