SHIMLA: At 27, Arushi Sharma is a new “kid on Bollywood block”, shining in the glory and fame she has earned in her debut films Love Aaj Kal 2 and Tamasha. These two romantic comedy flicks have brought out a “Star in Her”. She has carved out a cut for herself in a crass commercial jungle that Bollywood is.
Amidst arch lite and glamour of Love Aaj Kal, now all eyes are set on Arushi’s next flick on Netflix- Jaadugari that stars her with Jitender Kumar, an actor who has also made his mark in the web series on Netflix.
Jaadugari is releasing on July 15 on Netflix, a movie platform which is popular among youngsters and movie-lovers across the globe.
This is where she has set her eyes right now before she gets next break in another Bollywood film from the noted directors, says Suresh Sharma, her close relative, who runs café Haat on the national highway near Chaila Kenchi in apple country of Shimla district.
Arushi, a Loretto Convent Shimla product is a “charming lady of substance and style in her own right” - a class and stuff that the new age Cine stars are made of.
She had stints as a techie in Chennai, Delhi and Gurgaon that has woven her dreams on a sound footing.
She was spotted and picked by film maker Imtiaz Ali, a popular director of TV shows and Bollywood films. Ali was on a hunt for a right face for his film Tamasha.
One fine day Ali recced around and visited the JP institute of Information technology Vaknaghat near Shimla in 2014. It was here that he conducted audition and found Arushi a right choice for the film.
Ali informed her parents that Arushi has talent, has a photogenic personality that can click her a career in film industry.
During his media interaction on the launch of his film Love Aaj Kal 2, Imtiaz Ali said, “I have known Arushi for years since 2014. But it was famed casting director Mukesh Chhabra who cast her in the film. We thank him for bringing this “charming lady in the film”.
Arushi supports charming looks that youngsters adore, her co-rivals envy and film makers look for. She is a rare combination of “beauty, grace, intelligence, self-confidence, who has learnt her craft and can now Act well” to entertain people.
She has dramatically shown her craft on Big Screen in her debutant roles in Tamasha as a history teacher in which Ranvir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone were lead actors.
Arushi has shown it in her first greater role as a supporting actress in Love Aaj Kal 2, a romantic comedy flick of Imtiaz Ali, co-staring her with Kartik Aryan as her school mate. The film starred Aryan, Sara Ali Khan, Randeep Hooda and Arushi Sharma.
When asked to comment on her role in Love Aajkal 2, Arushi told a YouTube channel that even Aryan is an engineer and it was like meeting an old buddy.
“He is an actor who is always trying to improve his craft. He is good co-star, who elevated my performance too. He can stay focused even in chaos, I cannot”, she said.
Arushi is no small town girl as being projected by the biased city-centric Bollywood media. She is born and brought up in Shimla city in a reputed ‘Sanskarik’ Brahmin family of judges, apple orchardists and civil servants, who hail from Ghoond Balson in Shimla district.
Their ancestors have come from Brahmin village of Bateuri of Shantha Pargana in Chopal Tehsil. Her Mother Aparna Sharma comes from the Choti Kashi and a temple town of Mandi, the cultural capital of Himachal Pradesh.
Her parents, father RK Sharma and mother, Aparna Sharma are both judges in the Shimla district courts. Both support their daughter’s decision to opt for a career in Film Industry. Her first Uncle, Manmohan Sharma, is an IAS Officer serving in Himachal, while her younger sister is studying Law from Delhi university.
Arushi’s journey to Bollywood is accidental. It happened all of a sudden when Arushi gave an audition and was selected to act in a film by Imtiaz Ali, said R K Sharma, who is a District and Sessions Judge in Shimla.
Arushi is confident and has a flair for acting, delighting and entertaining the movie-goers. She has sacrificed her promising engineering career for the film industry, where new comers from non-Bollywood family background face a lot of competition, perhaps discrimination and struggle unlike other Bollywood insiders”, opine her fans.
Arushi’s fan club has surged over the months ever since she exhibited her craft in Tamasha and Love Aajkal 2, creating a niche for herself in Bollywood.
Her fans say that debutant Arushi dwarfed the leading Actor Sara Ali Khan in Love Aajkal. Sara got her name and fame on a platter due to her family connection.
But Arushi remains a mystery girl, who remains unsung, unheard and unhonoured even after the successful launch in Bollywood.
This has upset her fans. Arushi was not given her due while promoting the film and at Kapil Sharma show. She remains a mystery girl in Love Aaj Kal 2, which has grossed over Rs 52.6 Crore so far as per Wikipedia, say her fans.
Himachal Actors have broken the shackles of misconceived image of Shimla as “small town charming ladies” by creating niche for themselves in Bollywood.
Like her elder sisters now popular actors like Preity Zinta, Kangana Ranaut, Yami Gautam Dhar and small screen star and Big Boss winner Rubina Dilaik, Arushi is not a small town girl as being dished out by the “Bollywood’s ignorant media, which remains prominent for its Megapolis bias.
Arushi comes from Shimla that has been an erstwhile summer capital of the former British Raj for over 135 years. As such that cosmopolitan culture comes naturally to her.
Arushi has inherited “cultural values and Pahari Sanskars and wants to live a life of her own choosing even in a world of glamour that has brought out an “Actor and a Star in Her”.
Though Shimla city has now no active regular Theatre, but the city has a tradition of Theatre and Dramatics, much older than that of Bollywood, even Bombay Talkies, which was launched by Himanshu Rai in 1934.
Gaiety Theatre and Shimla Amateur Dramatic Club came into life in 1888, when nothing existed in the then Bombay in the name of Acting and Entertainment!
The Gaiety stage witnessed a galaxy of artistes both Indian and British that used to entertain both Indian and British elites in Shimla and then in London, recalled the old-timer here.
Shimla’s tradition of dramatics was born much before the father of Indian Film Industry, Dada Saheb Phalke, launched his Raja Harishchandra, the first talkie or talking Indian film in 1931.
This is in no way an attempt to belittle pioneering Indian Film Maker. It was due to efforts of the pioneers like him that Bollywood today has grown into a big Film industry, while on the other, Shimla has grown into a global tourist destination. It is another story.
It was in Shimla’s Gaiety Theatre, where the likes of K L Sehgal, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Balraj Sahani, Shashi Kapur, Jennifer Kendall, Raj Babbar, Anupam Kher, Manohar Singh, Nasiruddin Shah, Prem Chopra and others performed on its antique stage down the line.
Gaiety Theatre houses Shimla Amateur Dramatic Club, one of oldest clubs in India. It is also a city where Noble Laurate Rudyard Kipling stayed and wrote books and poetry.
Himachal Bollywood stars also come from reputed families of this Dev Bhoomi and Veerbhumi- the land that has produced India’s bravest soldiers and winners of Paramvir Chakras of the likes of Capt Vikram Batra.
Now its stars are born one by one, exploding a myth that Bollywood industry is not meant for “decent family girls from small towns in India”.
“It is not like that. You come from a smalltown in these changing times is not relevant. Each city or town has its own culture. Each one has an impression about the city”, Arushi told a Channel in Mumbai when she was asked about “her so-called small town background”.
Talking about debut roles, she said, “I was having a lot of anticipation how will the audience like me, how will the people in the industry like me?”.
“I think after the release of the film I’ve got a lot of acceptance which was very important for me and I’m happy, I’m excited and motivated to do more work and entertain people”, she asserted.
Fans in Himachal wish her a successful journey in Bollywood!
