Anushka Sharma’s 5 Finest Performances

Subhash K Jha Selects Anushka Sharma’s  5 Finest  Performances

1.     Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi(2008): In her  very first film this  natural-born scenestealer  proved herself a formidable co-star to Shah Rukh Khan. In a homage  to Satyajit Ray’s  Apur Sansar , Anushka plays Taani  a newly-married wife whose husband-to-be  dies in a road accident, leaving  her in the hands  of the poor  boring  Surinder. Taani    finds her  accidental husband too dull and unexciting and gets attracted to his contrasting lookalike. Even though Shah Rukh in two roles was here there and everywhere  Anushka as  his headstrong ‘bitter’half   held her own. Shah Rukh was right when he said we couldn’t tell this  was  her first film. Anushka’s super self-confidence was  her greatest asset from the the outset.

2.     Band  Baaja Baaraat(2010):  With just three films Anushka Sharma had grown into one of the most watchable and eloquent contemporary actresses. To the role of the spirited Shruti, Anushka adds the kind of spice that one associates with Kajol and Rani Mukherjee. In two key sequences with Ranveer Singh where she conceals her true feelings and much later lets them all out in a tumble of smirking hurt,  Anushka blows the screen apart.Her  ability to  own  every frame was the name of her fame.

3.     NH10(2015):  Anushka Sharma has a ‘wail’ of a time sinking her teeth into a part that gives her a chance to play the hero without losing her femininity. She is in walloping good shape here specially in her outburst scenes when she climbs a rocky mountain to escape her tormentors , or her scream of bloodcurdling protest after her husband’s death. During the film’s stunning playing-time when Anushka’s Meera desperately seeks help from cops and civilians  Anushka is a  bloodcurdling fireball of  nervous energy.At the  climax when she  fights and  conquers  her  enemies , she is every bit the credible  hero.

4.     Sultan(2016):  Anushka is the first Salman Khan  co-star who didn’t seem overwhelmed by his presence. Yup, she gives him tit for tat, wit for wack, with such nifty nonchalance that we are soon rooting for them as a couple.Apparently  Kangana Ranaut had  said no  to Sultan  because  she felt the heroine had nothing much  to do. How wrong she was! What  an actor  makes  of  a role is  entirely  up to her.Anushka proved  it.

5.     Pari(2017):  For Anushka Sharma, this is the career-defying role that she can brag  about to her  children. She sinks her soul into her traumatized  role with a sighing innocence. Her Rukhsana bleeds and  bleeds not just from the nose lips and eyes. The wounds  run deep.This is a severely traumatized woman battling the sinner within that  challenges the angel that she could have been if fate hadn’t willed  a satanic karma  for her. In many sequences, Anushka undergoes severe physical humiliation and trauma.She rises to the occasion, sometimes  literally as her  Rukshana  climbs building sides like  a ghetto Catwoman. Anushka’s imploring eyes beseeching us to understand that those who are pulled into diabolism are  often victims of  circumstances beyond their control, will stay with us forever.