Anushka Sen, who made her showbiz debut in 2009 as a child actor, is one of the most popular names in the television industry at the age of 19. The Baalveer actress is not in the mood to stop as she is all set to launch her first talk show ‘Not Just A Chat Show’. Not just that, she will be soon making her Korean debut as she has collaborated with the South Korean entertainment brand Asia Lab.
In a candid conversation with News18.com, Anushka not only opened up about her show, for which she is thrilled, but she also shared her experience of working in Korea and how she wanted to meet BTS when she was in their country. The actress revealed that the link between Korea and India is food and Shah Rukh Khan.
Excerpts:
Please tell us about the concept of the show
‘Not Just A Chat Show’ is coming on Zee Cafe and I’m the show host for the very first time. It’s interesting because it’s usually me who’s always answering the questions. But this time, I’m the host. So I’m going to be having a lot of guests, and I’m going to ask them questions, and the best part about the show is that it’s not scripted. It’s very spontaneous and on the spot, so it’s interesting and unique. It’s not like the other chat shows, and hence, it’s called Not Just a Chat Show.
How has the shooting experience been so far?
It’s been amazing because the roles have been reversed. And it was so exciting for me that I could ask the guests whatever I want to. When I was talking about it in the promo, it felt like a dream come true because I have always loved chat shows. I love reality shows and I have watched a lot of chat shows since childhood. I’ve always wished that I be in the chat shows as a guest and also sometimes I wished to have my own show. So I really had a lot of fun and my team trusted me with my instincts and my opinions.
Can you tell us about your guests, the people we can expect to see on the show?
The best part about our show is that we have like a variation of guests. First, we have Krystal D’Souza who is an actress and she was amazing on the show. I had so much fun with her. We have Riddhima Pandit and she was also so sweet and so nice. Then we have Dr. Monica Jacob MD, who’s an Aesthetic Physician. So the conversations actually turned out to be very different because she’s from a completely different industry. Then we had Master Chef winner Shipra Khanna. All of these conversations were very different, interesting, and unique. I had a lot of fun, and they were also having so much fun being on my show.
You have been a part of this industry since a very young age and working continuously. Do you ever feel that it gets overwhelming at times? And have you ever missed out on certain things in life because of your work?
I’ve always said that love what you do and do what you love. And I’m one of those very lucky people who get to do that. It’s been more than 10 years. I started when I was eight and now I am 19 so it’s a long journey. The best part is that there’s so much more to do. I didn’t know when I started that I want to become an actor. I started because it just happened. And then as I started doing shows, and started doing my work, I fell in love with this craft. Now that I look back at this amazing journey, I feel that it’s so amazing that I’ve met so many people and worked with such talented people.
I have seen myself grow in front of cameras, I’ve not missed out on anything, fortunately, thanks to my parents and my friends. Because as soon as I would have any time to spare I would go for a holiday, spend time with my friends, just chill and be a normal human being.
Being an influencer comes with a different responsibility because when you have 38 million followers, it’s a huge responsibility to put out stuff that people like and learn something out of it. Wherever I go, I just keep that in mind. So I love my job. And I just want to do this for life. It’s been an amazing journey and I look forward to doing inspiring stuff.
You also made your Korean debut.
It was amazing that I went to Korea, it was just so unexpected. They approached me and asked me to come to Korea to figure something out. Then I signed with the agency for a film and for a web show, and for more stuff. When I went to South Korea recently, I had so many meetings lined up, I had to meet big people over there and it was amazing because I felt I was kind of representing India. I was the first ever actor to do something like this. So I’m really excited about my journey in Korea because it’s very different. The language is different. The content is different.
You also said you wanted BTS to come to India for a concert. Who’s your bias?
Mine is V (Kim Taehyung) for the longest time and I seriously want them to come to India. When I was in Korea, I was asking them whether BTS will have a concert there. But they were in the USA when I had gone to Korea so I was sad. But I really hope to see the concert. I love Blackpink members as well. They’re all so cool.
People have a huge craze for Korean content in India. What are Korean people hyped up about? Do they watch Indian shows and what craze do they have?
They watch a lot of different kinds of content. They have watched some Hindi films, but they don’t know much about it. They don’t know about our culture that much, unfortunately, and that’s why when I was in Korea, every meeting I was going to, I was telling them about my culture. Our culture, industry, and our films. They don’t know a lot about it. But they know some people like Shah Rukh Khan. Who doesn’t know Shah Rukh Khan! We all love him.
They know some of the older films. They’re really hyped about Indian food, which came as a surprise for me. And actually, some of the Korean recipes are inspired by Indian spices and our curries. So there is a connection between Korea and India, even though it’s very little right now. But I see it becoming stronger in the future since we love them so much. And they love guests. The way they treated me and welcomed me was so sweet and warm. I had a great time and I can’t wait to go back again.
Talking about SRK, you had also mentioned that you would like to work with Aryan Khan in Om Shanti Om’s remake.
There are two films by SRK that I really love. Actually, I love all of his films but two films are my favorite- Chennai Express and Om Shanti Om. So if there’s a remake ever I would love to do that. I would do it for free. I would do anything to just be in Om Shanti Om. I love it and have watched it 50 times. Since Aryan is Shah Rukh sir’s son, I was like that is the best combination. And Deepika had a debut with Om Shanti Om. So she had just entered the industry and Shah Rukh sir was there so it would be so cool.
‘Not Just A Chat Show’ is a limited episode series which will air on Zee Cafe from 24th July.
