Sonakshi reflects on her career, says she learnt 'everything from scratch'

She remembered how, despite being Shatrughan Sinha's daughter, she had no experience of being on a film's set and no formal training in acting or dancing, starting off ":completely from scratch".

Speaking at the 24th edition of FICCI Frames, the actress, most recently seen in 'Double XL', said: "Throughout my career, I have learnt through experience. I started off completely from scratch. I had no experience of being on a film's set. I never visited my dad on sets when I was a child and I had no training in acting or dancing. I was not groomed for the profession. I was literally thrown into the deep end of the pool and was told to swim. That's how I learnt."

Sinha went on to talk about how experiences have steered her professional career arc.

"Every experience for me is something to be cherished. Every person I have worked I have learnt a lot from, which has got me to a point that where Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) comes to me, he has the confidence in me to offer me a role like that of Fareedan, who is very very complex," Sinha said.

Sinha will soon be seen in SLB's upcoming period drama series 'Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar'. She made her Bollywood debut in 2010 with the Salman Khan-starrer action comedy film 'Dabangg'.

Speaking about her journey as an actor, she said: "I have been working for the past 14 years and I have done all sorts of roles. I started off with these commercial masala sort of films, where it was always about the 'hero, hero and hero', which I am not complaining about because it really gave me an audience and a wide reach."

Continuing on her career's trajectory, Sinha said: "It gave me the confidence to shoulder films on my own as soon as I started playing really strong female characters, which were different from what I was doing, whether it was in 'Akira', 'Noor' or 'Dahaad'. I consciously chose roles I had not played before, and that really pushed me and challenged me as an actor."

She added: "So, when SLB sir came to me with 'Heeramandi', I was like 'Thank you for imagining me like this'. It is really an honour when a director envisions you in a way that nobody has ever thought of you as. So, that is something that every actor craves for."

Looking back at her career, Sinha said with a sense of satisfaction: "As a journey I wouldn't change a thing. Every experience has counted and put me to where I am today. I wouldn't have it any other way. I have seen my ups and downs. For me, it was eventful, fruitful, a lovely learning experience more than anything else."

Sonakshi ended by saying: "Every film set I go to I approach it like it is my first day on set. And that's what keeps me going. I want to be a different person with every film. It keeps me excited about my job till today."