EY PHOTO: SURESH NATARAJAN. EMBROIDERED MESH DRESS, CHANEL. BAGUETTE- aND MARQUISE-CUT DIAMONDS SET IN 18k white gold baNGLE, DIAMONDS SET IN 18k white gold braCELET, DIAMONDS SET IN 18k white aND YELLOW GOLD LINK BRACELET; ALL JAIPUR GEMS E VI supermodel Kate Moss supermodel KateMoss dressers willfindlooks throws on the season’s throws ontheseason’s Sharma sailsthehigh E Cover starAnushka couture, andsharp MIGHTY FINE tailor-made forthetailor-made seas inhighstyle, most extravagant W eternal rebel 105 WIND in her sails Her pixie charm and effervescent spirit may have captivated our hearts, but that youthful face hides a steely determination. Clear the decks, ANUSHKA SHARMA is charging full steam ahead. By ANINDITA GHOSE Photographed by SURESH NATARAJAN Styled by PRIYANKA KAPADIA Swarovski crystal-embroidered tulle dress, Giambattista Valli Couture. Silk scarf (worn on head), brocade and raffia sandals; bothDolce & Gabbana. Sunglasses, Linda Farrow. ‘Fleur De Lis’ 1980s Escada earrings, Susan Caplan Vintage Collection. ‘Voila’ bracelet, Tom Binns Design. Crystal and brass bracelet, Alexander McQueen. Umbrella, ‘Alzer’ suitcase; both Louis Vuitton 107 Silk flower and lace embellished organza and silk dress, Dolce & Gabbana. Chain-link 1980s Napier necklace, Susan Caplan Vintage Collection nushka Sharma sits down, kicks off her heels, and—in what I know now as her jaun- ty manner—slaps the table. We’re hav- ing dinner at Wasabi by Morimoto, the actor’s “favourite restaurant in the world in Mumbai”, and she orders a awhole bunch of food without glancing at the menu: two kinds of carpaccio, avocado and wasabi tacos, miso- marinated black cod with garlic rice. “You’re eating too neatly,” she com- plains, devouring a (very large) taco with comic vengeance. A little later, Christian Louboutin will stop by our table to say hello, startling Sharma, who struggles to find her abandoned pair of shoes— serendipitously, spiked nude Lou- boutins—while attempting to stand up and offer the virtuoso shoe de- signer advice on what to order. This is not without its complications: he doesn’t eat fish. After the episode plays itself out, I can’t help but join her in the five minutes of laughter that follows. Sharma’s father, a retired Indian army colonel, believes that people are the polar opposite of the way they ap- pear in public. If we were to follow this hypothesis, his 24-year-old star daugh- ter is a neat, solemn, supremely organ- ised young woman who knows exactly what she’s doing. The impression fits her. No other ac- tor under 30 today has had a career trajectory quite like hers: a debut op- posite Shah Rukh Khan with Yash Raj Films, the country’s biggest film pro- duction company; a chance to show- case her spunk with a memorable role in Band Baaja Baaraat (2010) soon after; films with movie magicians such as Yash Chopra and Vishal Bhardwaj, and those with Rajkumar Hirani > 109 Chiffon tie-dye dress, metallic chain- mail calf leather belt; both Versace. Wedges, Christian Louboutin. Faceted 22K gold bracelet, diamonds and blue topaz set in 18K gold bangle, diamonds set in 18K white and yellow gold link bracelet; all Jaipur Gems 110 Crêpe de Chine cutwork bustier dress, Ermanno Scervino. ‘Jourdin’ brass bangle, ‘Jade’ brass cuff; both Alona. Crystal and brass cocktail ring, Alexander McQueen and Anurag Kashyap in the pipeline. received in her five years in the indus- childhood has been a blur of coming There are murmurs of a project with try came from Aishwarya Rai Bach- back from school and heading straight Steven Spielberg, too. chan just after Sharma’s first movie, to the nearest army club [for] a lot of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), had re- sports—swimming, basketball, ten- ZEN AND THE ART OF leased. “I was in Macau for the IIFA nis, badminton—and chicken lolli- MOVIE SUCCESS Awards, and Amitabh Bachchan had pops and soft drinks... Did you know The waitstaff at Wasabi (now in the invited me to their suite for a party. the army makes their own soft drinks? top 20 of San Pellegrino’s Asia’s 50 Aishwarya told me that at the end of They’re the best!” She also concedes Best Restaurants list) spoil us with an my career what I’ll remember are the to being a compulsive liar while on endless parade of trial dishes. What experiences I’ve had—the hits and holiday. “I was in St Ives recently and we don’t table are stories of Sharma’s flops won’t make a difference. I proba- some people at a bar asked me what I starry-eyed ambition to be in the mov- bly didn’t understand it then. But I do did. I said I was a writer… and then I ie biz. “The only thing I wanted was now. I know all of this is going to go got really carried away with it and to be famous before I was 20,” says away some day, that someone younger made up this elaborate backstory. Sharma candidly. The film offer hap- and better will come along. If I ignore First book was an overnight success. pened to come along on her zealous that and live in an illusion, I’ll be very Riddled with writer’s block over my path to modelling glory—she’d been bitter at the end of my life.” second. Now I take pills, travel and auditioning for commercials since she write for newspapers…” was 12. “I went in for that first audi- LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE As the stories flow, it is occasionally tion at Yash Raj with zero expecta- At 10.30pm, after an entire day of difficult to keep up. I find it hard to be- tions,” she confides. Everything that’s shooting on a yacht with Vogue, Shar- lieve she had to be trained to talk fast come along since has been a windfall, ma has the sort of jack-in-the-box for her role as the feisty wedding plan- and the grounded acceptance of her bounce that makes me think she’ll be ner in Band Baaja Baaraat. But it remarkably early success as an actor only too ready to take me up on a tri- isn’t just about the staggering speed at is impressive. athlon right now. It also makes it easy which her words pour out (she says it’s Perhaps her calm comes from living to dismiss the anorexia rumours she’s “nervous energy”). In a span of two Sharma makes up for lost sleep while getting from one place to another, she explains. “I’ve made this little bed at the back of my Range Rover. I’ve mastered the power nap” in the moment. Right now, she’s here been dogged by—she is far too ener- hours I’ve met many different Miss on Bollywood’s A-List. And like the getic to be ill. Sharmas: She is truly committed to Zen masters, who develop an unreal She goes over her plans for the next acting. She would give it all up for a focus about the task at hand, she’s day: an early morning visa interview, new passion. She loves shopping for determined to give it everything getting her hair re-styled for film con- shoes. She detests shopping. She digs she’s got. tinuity, day-long readings for Kashy- Japanese food. She doesn’t eat sushi Sharma won her first Filmfare ap’s forthcoming Bombay Velvet and rolls. Cooking is therapeutic. She Award earlier this year, but she dance rehearsals for her performance doesn’t cook. doesn’t want any of that adulation to at the first MTV Video Music Awards Anushka Sharma might have many go to her head. She doesn’t want to in India. Of course, today isn’t over different selves, but there’s at least one metamorphose into a movie star who yet—she’s going halfway across town avatar that reigns supreme right now: can’t adjust to a normal life once her for the rehearsals after this. Sharma the diligent actor. career is on the wane. Doomsayer? makes up for lost sleep while getting “I’m a realist,” says Sharma. When from one place to another, she ex- PLEASE STAND UP she first got bigger pay cheques, she plains. “I’ve made this little bed at the Sharma has no qualms admitting didn’t amass designer labels, she back of my Range Rover. I’ve mas- that she’s only recently become pas- bought an apartment. Now that her tered the power nap.” sionate about the craft of acting. “I parents have moved to Mumbai from The girl’s a trooper. And an occa- get excited by scripts and characters, Bangalore, she’s bought a bigger sional mischief-maker—like the time developing [them], the shooting pro- flat so the family can live together. she and her brother Karnesh, four cess,” she says. “In the true sense of This is what’s important. Her priori- years her elder, put colour in the water what being an actor stands for… I ties are uncluttered. “See, I don’t call tank of their house to fool their par- get it now.” for personal film screenings. I buy a ents. It was her idea entirely. “I’m a So, though she might be an intrigu- ticket and go with my friends to boys’ girl! I come from an army back- ing tangle of contradictions, she knows the movies.” ground and I haven’t known what be- exactly what she wants to straighten The best advice the young actor has ing a ‘good Indian girl’ means.