I do believe in ghosts: Anushka Sharma

Anushka Sharma opens up on her latest film ‘Phillauri’ and how it came together

About two years ago, Anushka Sharma wowed everyone with NH10, the first project from her then newly-minted production company Clean Slate Films. The highway thriller was applauded by the critics and audiences alike and established the Bollywood beauty as a force to be reckoned with.

Now, Anushka and her team are ready with their second project: Phillauri. Touted as a fun-filled romantic-comedy set in the city of Phillaur in Indian Punjab, the film stars Anushka herself, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada and hit theatres on Friday, March 24. It tells the story of a young man named Kanan who is told that he must marry a tree before he can wed his childhood sweetheart to ward off evil spirits. As it turns out, the tree he picks is home to an unearthly spirit named Shashi, played by Anushka.



As one can expect from the ever-bubbly Bollywood starlet, she had a great time playing a ghost in the film. When asked if she believes in ghosts herself, Anushka responded in the affirmative. “Yes, I do believe in ghosts. Sometimes you can feel a certain presence around. But I don’t go around telling such things to people cause then they’ll laugh at me!” she said, in a recent interview with Spotboye. “The ghost angle in Phillauri is actually very unique. People will get to see something they’ve never seen before. The love story is beautiful and all in all, the film is a great family entertainer.”

As fun as working on such a project might have been, Anushka admitted that she and her team did face some difficulties. One such time was while shooting an emotional scene that appears in the second half of the film. “The second half of Phillauri constitutes an emotional sequence which was very difficult for us to perform,” recalled the Jab Tak Hai Jaan star. “We had to shoot the scene over a two-day period which. But for an actor, being in that same head space for so long can be quite a challenge,” she shared.

Anushka also couldn’t help but rave about her co-star Diljit, who was last seen in Anurag Kashyap’s Udta Punjab. “Diljit was perfect for the role and fit in perfectly! He inherently possesses the qualities of the character that he’s playing and has certain calm in his performance,” she said.



As it turns out, Anushka did not know Diljit personally but had heard of him because of his music. “I had heard his songs but never saw any of his films. Then, I happened to watch Jatt & Juliet on a friend’s laptop during a flight one day and I was very intrigued. You know, sometimes, an actor makes you think ‘Oh, this guy is really good’? It was like that,” revealed the actor. “Diljit was charming, funny and possesses a certain depth at the same time. When we were casting for Phillauri, I suggested him but we weren’t sure if he’d shoot without a turban so let it go. Later on, Diljit came up again and we re-imagined the character and now, I feel he was perfect!”

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