So you now have a hyphenated identity, right? A musician-actor, or rather a musician turned actor. So how are you planning to keep the musician Sanjeeta away from the sets of film production?
Honestly, I don't plan on keeping the musician part of me away from films at all. In fact, I want to integrate it as much as I can. Because even in “Jawan,” I'm acting in the movie as the Helena character. But I also sang for the film soundtrack, a song called “Mis Chikas.” “Mis Chikas” is my song. I wrote it and I sang it, and it was composed and produced by myself. I don't plan on keeping the musician away from films at all. In fact, I want to make sure that the two worlds intertwine as much as possible.
What is the kind of change ‘Jawan’ the movie has actually brought about?
So much. First of all the thing is, Bollywood is the most massy form of entertainment. Even Southeast Asia enjoys it. I won't say India because it's literally so many different countries within the continent that enjoy Bollywood and Tollywood, you know? And “Jawan” happens to be a fan of Indian films. So it was produced in multiple languages. So it's literally gotten out to the UAE as well, to Bangladesh, I'm sure, like so many other countries.
So it's basically made sure that through my music before this… I'm an independent singer-songwriter. “Jawan” gave me a platform where I could showcase my talent at a much larger scale. So it has kind of given me a certain kind of face value. A lot of people now think that I'm only an actor, so I get recognized on the streets and it's really new for me. It's very overwhelming, and it's also really heartwarming to see people come up to me and I'm just going about my day and they'll be like, ‘Oh my gosh! you are Helena from Jawaan,’ and then they'll find out that I'm also a musician.
It's fun to live this… it's a very new experience for me. Through “Jawan” I also of course got to meet the most incredible bunch of people starting from Shah Rukh Khan, to everybody in my girl gang. They're my lifelong friends, so I'm just so grateful for this film.
You mean the other five? Are all of you best friends?
Yeah. All of them.
So what do you girls mostly discuss? Do you discuss politics? Do you discuss society and the economy?
We discuss everything from our frustrations to the economy to the government. We discuss society, we discuss books, we discuss when we're going to have lunch next. In fact, I just got a call from Sanya (Malhotra). I'm performing in Delhi tonight and she was like, ‘Oh my good! I want to come to your show. When are you playing in Bombay next?’ So you know, we basically check up on each other. We just want to spend as much time with each other as possible. And these girls are like… we raise each other up. We are our best cheerleaders.
From ‘Feels Like Ishq’ to ‘Jawan,’ where you acted, sang songs and danced as well, how would you describe the transformation, choreography and dancing experience?
The journey has been very organic and seamless I would say.
This is something that I feel like the universe has concocted for me personally. This is not something I was looking for. This is not something that I had absolutely even planned ever. Everything happened like it fell into place, like dominoes; so it feels like it came after a few ads.
Once I got the call for “Jawan”... it was not something that I ever thought I would be doing with such enthusiasm and that I'd be loving this art form so much. It's like the universe has just made some beautiful, incredible plan for me. And I am just saying yes. I'm just going along with it, you know?
And on your second question on choreography, that's another thing. I feel like all my life I have learned music. I've learned Kathak, music from Sreemati Sunanda Sharma, Kathak from Pandit Birju Maharaj. All my life I've only learned music and dance, and now suddenly acting comes up. And in “Jawan,” all three of these art forms meet for me. So it was such a special project. Not only is it my first film, but it's also so special and close to my heart because I feel like everything that I had worked on my whole life came together in this film. I am so overwhelmed and my heart is so full seeing the kind of response that it's getting because, I don't know, I'm genuinely so happy.
So you must be getting lots of calls for ads too, right?
Yeah. I had been getting ads much before Jawan. I started with ads. I did an ad for Instagram, I did an ad for Bumble and I did an ad for Clean & Clear. So I've been doing ads quite a bit.
Share something about SRK's appearance. What was the most impactful part of working with him for two years?
I think the most impactful part of my interactions with Shah Rukh Khan has been the immense amount of humility he has. He is a star of stars. He is the biggest superstar our continent has seen, and yet he keeps his head on his shoulders and he keeps his feet on the ground and he talks to you as an equal no matter where you come from and who you are; he makes sure that his star persona does not overshadow his human persona. He humanizes himself when you interact with him and that's the most striking thing about him. People say that he's charming, people say he's kind, but I feel like all of it stems out of humility because that humility is so charming and so attractive,
SRK must be encouraging and inspiring you for music production, isn’t he?
Yeah. So first of all, he encouraged me for my music, because, I remember that his manager, Pooja, told him that I'm a musician. And the next day he brought a guitar on set and he asked me to perform. And that, for me, was the biggest encouragement.
What song did you perform in your first meeting with SRK?
I performed my song called “Pensarte.” “It’s a song I wrote in Spanish and it's my own song. So I sang it for him, his wife, the whole direction team and the girls. So we were all in the same room having dinner and I was playing this song and I remember him saying, ‘I've been transported into like a Spanish film right now.’
SRK and others were all so loving and encouraging. He was also so lovely. I remember that he said, ‘The goddess is in your voice.’
I will always remember those compliments because they are so special to me, and I think that the fact that I also got the opportunity to sing and write a song for “Jawan” is the biggest encouragement.
I am so thrilled that I get to do this for a living – something that I enjoy so much.
How versatile is director Atlee?
Atlee is so young; he's not much older than us, yet on his young shoulders, he gracefully took this film from visualization to actualization. He visualized this film coming together and now it's out there for the world to see. And just that journey is so inspiring for me because, at this young age, he has made some cult classics from the southern part of our country. And now he's making the whole country come together.
He's made a pan-India film, and there are people in this from the Marathi film industry, from the Tamil and Telugu film industries, from Bollywood. And it's incredible to see him do it with such grace. And, of course, there are days when you feel a little overwhelmed and the production is so huge, so not every day is going to be the same, but at the same time, he was also having a baby. This entire journey, like through “Jawan” was when he also had a baby; to sort of see that despite having such a crazy new addition to his personal life, he also balanced his work life with other things. He always made sure on set that everybody felt comfortable, everybody felt equal.
He would interact with everybody and he didn't have to do that. The production was huge. There were so many people… hundreds of people involved, but he made sure that everybody was on the same page about things and everybody was friendly with each other. So I think he made the atmosphere on set very comfortable for us, especially for a new actor like me.