Anushka Sharma turned producer five years back with NH 10. At 25, the actress launched her production company Clean Slate Films’ with her brother Karnesh Ssharma and since then has been concentrating on creating clutter-breaking cinema.
As NH 10 celebrated its fifth anniversary on March 13 , which was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Anushka spoke about her journey as a producer. Anushka said, “The decision to produce NH10 was very instinctive for me. It appealed to my core of doing something different and entertaining for audiences. I wanted to give them something that they had not seen before and I was sure we could push the entertainment envelope with this cinema.”
Anushka explained that as a producer her aim is to give India some brilliant content and she is always on the lookout for the best scripts. The 31-year-old star said, “As an artist, I have always backed disruptive content throughout my career and when a film like NH10 came to me, I knew it was my calling to disrupt content for audiences as a producer.”
She definitely felt like a fish out of water without any production background but she had her eyes on the prize. “I was 25, I had no knowledge of producing films and I didn’t know what I was getting into but my brother Karnesh and I knew that we had to do it because we wanted to give audiences cinema that Bollywood was not making... When I see the content that is being produced in India today, I feel validated about my decision,” the actress added.
Anushka revealed that she was told to give up on her dreams by many in the industry. She said, “I was told by practically everyone that I shouldn’t be getting into production and that an actress should focus on cementing her place in the big league than have distractions like this. I had always been a secure actor and these comments didn’t bother me. In fact, these comments only made my resolve stronger that I had to take down many ceilings, and give audiences creative choices to choose from.”
Since then, many actresses have turned producers including Priyanka Chopra, Chitrangada Singh, Deepika Padukone and Kangana Ranaut.
The versatile actress is happy to see this development happening in Bollywood. Anushka is ‘thrilled’ to see the content that the women of the industry have been developing.
“I’m proud of what Clean Slate Films has achieved so far. Today, I’m thrilled to see the content that is being produced by many actresses. I think we all collectively need to creatively contribute and collaborate to change the landscape of cinema in India. We are definitely on the right path,” said Anushka.