Unstarry Stardom: The Making of Anushka Sharma

Abstract

The glitterati world of Bollywood has rendered a “mythical” quality to its “stars”, but “media-myths” are more than mere accidents. The journey of a person to a persona is a precarious one, where every “act”, choice and character role that a person chooses shapes their identity. It is in this context that despite an unexceptional entry into the Hindi film industry, having charted the formulaic route of modelling to movies, Anushka Sharma carved out a niche for herself—as a dependable and fine actor with a mind for production as well as entrepreneurship. Over the years, Sharma has come to, in so many ways, revisit female celebrity in India through her choice of roles, political views, participation in social campaigns and business ventures. Through her films, Sharma has managed to hit the interstitial zone of Bollywood stardom that can effortlessly juggle commercial success and maintain a socially responsible artiste persona. This paper examines Sharma’s entry into film production with offbeat choices like NH10 (Singh 2015), Phillauri (Lal 2017) and Pari (Roy 2018). Through a detailed analysis of NH10, a multiplex horror film, this paper also examines her role as a diversifying insider in the industry and how her entrepreneurial choices helped Sharma fashion a unique and important star persona. In a world where female actresses are often typecast, Sharma managed to strike a balance between the typical roles that she initially portrayed and her subsequent roles that are rarely essayed by women. The paper argues that her diversified star persona as an actress, an entrepreneur and a socially responsible and sensitive “star” defines what is expected of the “new kind of star” in the world of “multiplex cinema”. Sharma’s rise to stardom and her place in the industry with reference to her contemporaries hold potential to redefine the position occupied by female artists in the industry and female celebrityhood in India. Through tracing Sharma’s career, this paper also charts the shifts in the industry that has facilitated the rise of a new type of a female Hindi film star in the new millennium, redefining the parameters which determine success and stardom for women in the industry.