Anjali Anand recalls reaching her ‘lowest point’
Before Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani brought Anjali Anand to a wider film audience, the actor says she had reached a point where she was seriously considering walking away from acting in India.
During a recent appearance on filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan’s vlog, Anand recalled that 2020 was an especially difficult period. Acting opportunities had dried up, and the Covid-19 lockdown added financial pressure while she was living alone in a rented home.
“I was at the lowest point of my life in 2020. I even thought of quitting acting and moving abroad,” Anand said, according to The Indian Express. She added that her money was exhausted during the lockdown and that she had burned through her savings.
Her account offers more context to a success story that can appear sudden from the outside: before landing a major Dharma Productions film, Anand says she had been preparing for an entirely different future.
She was preparing to leave India
This was apparently more than a passing thought.
In an earlier interview reported by The Times of India, Anand said she had taken IELTS and was going through the visa process as she considered moving abroad in search of other opportunities.
She had already spent several years working in television but wanted to explore work beyond the medium. Then came an unexpected call that altered those plans.
A call from Shanoo Sharma changed things
Anand recalled being in Goa with friends when she received a call from casting director Shanoo Sharma.
According to Anand, Sharma had previously spoken to her about losing weight before they could work together.
“Whenever I used to meet her, she would tell me ‘When you lose weight, we will do something’,” Anand recalled in the recent conversation reported by The Indian Express.
This time, however, the conversation was different.
Anand said Sharma told her that Karan Johar had seen her photograph and liked her for a role. She also recalled being told that although influencers were among those being considered, Johar wanted an actor for the part.
That opportunity eventually became Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
‘Badi aayi Karan Johar ko milne’
The story also produced a candid exchange involving Anand’s mother.
Recalling the period when her daughter was hoping to meet Karan Johar, Anand’s mother said she had been sceptical because they had no industry connections or backing.
She remembered telling her daughter:
“Badi aayi Karan Johar ko milne ja rahi hai. Tujhe kyun milega woh.”
The remark roughly translates to: “Look at you, going to meet Karan Johar. Why would he meet you?”
The comment was recalled humorously during the conversation with Farah Khan, but it also reflected how improbable the opportunity appeared to the family at the time.
Anand ultimately did meet Johar—and secured the role.
Anand initially had concerns about the character
There was another twist: getting the audition did not mean Anand immediately wanted to accept whatever role was offered.
In her earlier interview, she said she initially worried that the character might repeat familiar Bollywood stereotypes involving plus-size characters.
She referenced characters such as Sweetu in Kal Ho Naa Ho and Ladoo in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, saying she did not want to take on a part built around similar treatment of body size.
After reading the material, however, Anand felt differently. She said the character was expressing something she herself wanted to say about the way larger people are discussed and portrayed.
That distinction is significant because Anand has repeatedly spoken publicly about how her body type has influenced the roles offered to her.
Body type often came before talent, Anand says
In a July 2026 interview with PTI, Anand said that her appearance had often been the first reason she was considered for roles, with filmmakers recognising the wider range of her acting ability only afterward.
She began acting with the OTT series Untag and subsequently appeared in television projects including Dhhai Kilo Prem. Some of those roles placed considerable emphasis on her character being overweight.
Anand has also questioned whether the entertainment industry has translated its public conversation about body inclusivity into actual casting practices.
In an earlier interview, she recalled being asked to lose weight even when, in her assessment, she was significantly slimmer than she is now. She contrasted contemporary casting with an earlier period of Hindi cinema when leading actresses with visibly different body types regularly occupied mainstream roles.
Her comments represent her personal experience and assessment of the industry rather than a measure of casting practices across Bollywood as a whole.
‘Rocky Aur Rani’ became her Hindi film debut
Anand eventually played Gayatri “Golu” Randhawa, the younger sister of Ranveer Singh’s character Rocky Randhawa, in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
The 2023 film starred Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles, alongside Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi.
For Anand, it was her Hindi feature-film debut, rather than her acting debut. She had already built a career through streaming and television before entering mainstream Hindi cinema.
That distinction is worth making because describing Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani simply as her “debut” can incorrectly suggest that she had no previous acting experience.
From considering an exit to a mainstream film career
The trajectory after that period has been markedly different.
Anand subsequently appeared in Dhamaal 4, directed by Indra Kumar. Speaking to News9 ahead of the film, Kumar said Anand had not been asked to gain or lose weight for the role, saying the filmmakers wanted her as she was and praising her as an actor.
Yet Anand has also said that work remains unpredictable. During the recent Farah Khan vlog, she joked that despite compliments about her appearance, nobody was casting her at the moment. Farah responded by appealing to filmmakers to give Anand work.
The larger significance of Anand’s account is therefore not simply that one phone call produced a successful film role. Her story illustrates the less visible period before a breakthrough—financial uncertainty, rejection, body-related expectations and the possibility that an actor may leave the profession before the opportunity audiences eventually associate with them arrives.
Sources -
The Indian Express, Times of India and PTI/ThePrint, based on Anjali Anand’s recent conversation with Farah Khan and her earlier interviews about her career.
