Chunky Panday narrated a ‘funny’ story about his daughter Ananya Panday, and a mortifying encounter she had with Naseeruddin Shah.
Actor Chunky Panday in a new interview spilled the beans about an encounter that his daughter, Ananya Panday, had with Naseeruddin Shah on the sets of her upcoming film, directed by Shakun Batra.
In a conversation with comedian-actor Cyrus Broacha, Chunky Panday said that even someone as celebrated as Naseeruddin Shah refers to him as the ‘Great Panday’.
When Cyrus called him ‘the most famous Panday’, Chunky joked, “I am the most famous Panday in the universe. Not only in the world.” He then narrated the story about his daughter.
He said with a laugh, “In fact, Cyrus, something very funny happened. My daughter was shooting with Naseeruddin Shah, for a film, for Shakun Batra. And she went to meet him, and he asked her, ‘How’s the Great Panday?’ So my daughter thought he was talking about her, so she says, ‘I’m fine, sir’, and he says, ‘No, I’m talking about your dad’. So if Naseeruddin Shah can call me ‘the Great Panday’ I must be the greatest in the universe.”
Chunky has often spoken about how proud he is to be known as ‘Ananya Panday’s dad’. In an interview with Bollywood Life, he opened up about his anxieties around Ananya’s decision to join the film industry. He said, “I was never worried if my name would be associated with her because let’s face it, I’m not such a big star.
However, I was scared whether my daughter would be accepted or not (by the audience). Every star’s kid is either accepted or not accepted. The audience has to like the person and accept the person as in she’s our girl, Ananya is a part of us, like a hero is accepted – he’s our hero. Similarly, it needed to be like she’s our heroine. I wanted her to be accepted and that was my only fear because so many come and some get accepted while some do not.”
Ananya Panday made her debut with Student of the Year 2. She has since appeared in Pati, Patni Aur Woh; and Khaali Peeli.
