Fatima Sana Shaikh on the pressure she faced after debuting with Dangal: I didn't want to do solo films
Fatima Sana Shaikh opens up on how debuting with a blockbuster like Dangal made her feel scared and fearful, and how Ludo changed her perspective
It’s been eight years for Fatima Sana Shaikh in Bollywood as a leading lady. While she is happy with the place she is at today with projects like Metro In Dino and Aap Jaisa Koi arriving this year, Fatima Sana Shaikh admits that having started her leading career with a blockbuster like Dangal (2016), did make her journey more difficult.
“I did feel a pressure of not living up to the image and benchmark I had created. It created self-doubt that people might think I am a good actor, but am I truly one? I didn’t want to do solo films, because then the responsibility of a project will be on me and then if the audience doesn’t like it, what would I do? I approached my work with fear, and it took me time to understand that it’s okay to fail and make mistakes,” she says, adding that it was Ludo that changed her perspective. “I shot for Ludo after Thugs of Hindostan (2018) and I was very underconfident about myself. Eventually, I realised kuch farak nahi padta. I just need to do my job, and I need to show up for myself,” she says.
Today, she is happy with her pace. “I am comfortable with what I am doing and where I am at. I have also realised that people come and go, success comes and goes, you see the highs and the lows. So I am comfortable with the fickleness of everything,” she insists.
