Sanya Malhotra Wanted to REJECT Pagglait, Says 'I Told Guneet Monga, I Can't Do...' | Exclusive

Kathal – A Jackfruit Mystery makes for a rather special film for actor Sanya Malhotra. The satire revolves an investigation surrounding the disappearance of two prized jackfruits from a politician’s garden, and sees Sanya playing a small-town inspector. Kathal marks her reunion with producers Guneet Monga and Ektaa R Kapoor after the critically acclaimed comedy drama, Pagglait (2021), which saw her playing a young widow.

In an exclusive chat with News18, Sanya reveals that she couldn’t resist her urge of collaborating with the joint forces, who have been instrumental in shaping contemporary Hindi cinema. She tells us, “One of the reasons I was excited to do this film was because of the association I had with Guneet and Ektaa. It has been so fruitful! Itna fruitful tha ki humne Kathal bana diya (laughs).”

The 31-year-old might have belted out some successful and noteworthy projects like Patakhaa, Badhaai Do (both 2018) and Photograph (2019) right since her first film – the commercial blockbuster Dangal (2016) – but it was Pagglait that helped her capture the attention of filmmakers to headline projects completely on her own. Acknowledging the same, she states, “I’ve seen a shift in my career and the shift in the way the audience and the industry see me as an actor post Pagglait. That’s why, I knew that Kathal is also going to be a special one for me.”

A post shared by SanyaM (@sanyamalhotra_)

Sanya further shares that she was rather under-confident about signing Pagglait and even confided in Guneet about planning to turn down the offer. “I never had the confidence of an actor before Pagglait in terms of headlining a film or carrying a film solely on my shoulder. I’ll have to give it to Guneet and Umesh (Bist; director) sir, who believed in me as an actor. I remember I had called Guneet to my office before doing Pagglait and wanted to tell her that I cannot do the film because I felt that I wasn’t ready. I told her, ‘It is a film I’ll have to shoulder and I don’t know if I should be doing it,’” she recalls.

The actor, who will next be seen in Jawan and Sam Bahadur, believes that it was Guneet’s trust and faith in her that instilled confidence in herself to go ahead and say a yes to Pagglait. Talking about it, she elaborates, “I was four years into the industry and I thought it was too soon to do a film like that. But she convinced me to do it and I’m glad I did it. I fell in love with the story but I didn’t have the confidence at the same time. I got the confidence only when I saw Guneet and Umesh sir having that confidence and faith in me. Guneet and Achin (Jain; producer) get attached to projects that they truly believe in. I trust them a lot. And they got us an Oscar!”

Guneet recently won her second Academy Award for the Netflix documentary short, The Elephant Whisperers. In 2019, she bagged the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film titled Period. End of Sentence. Speaking about Guneet’s big win, Sanya beams and excitedly says that the former let her hold the prestigious Oscars trophy. “I met her after she won and I held it. It was very heavy! It was truly a different feeling. But I was scared to hold it thinking what if I drop it?” she remarks with a laugh. Hoping for a film to be made on Guneet’s trophy, Sanya jokes, “I think we can make a film on Guneet’s Oscar. We can make a replica of it. We don’t need to use the original one (laughs).”

Kathal is produced by Sikhya Entertainment and Balaji Telefilms Ltd and directed by Yashowardhan Mishra. It also stars Rajpal Yadav and Vijay Raaz. The film is all set to release on May 19 on Netflix.​