When you are introduced to Aishwarya Sushmita for the first time, its like you’re getting a combo deal. “Aishwarya Sushmita? Are you sure that’s your name?” It so happens that during the 90s when Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen made history by getting India on the beauty queen map, her parents decided to name their daughter after the duo.
From ramp to screen
She started off her career with the Kingfisher calendar in 2016, even though modelling was never part of her plan, as she never thought it could be a viable full time profession. While pursuing her Masters from University of Delhi, the Kingfisher calendar audition was going on. All the professors from her college would tell her that she should give it a try as she had the ideal height for it. Her parents too would discuss this at times and family members often told her that she has the personality for this field. Her father supported her and pushed her to try out for the calendar. That got her a foothold in the fashion industry, and she went to establish herself as a successful model. After five years, she decided it was time to give acting a shot. Transitioning beyond the ramp, Aishwarya made her debut in the web series Special Ops 1.5 on Disney + Hotstar. Next she was seen in Khakhee on Netflix, where she portrayed the character of Meeta Devi, and her most recent foray was as the female lead with Bad Cop, directed by Aditya Dutt and starring Anurag Kashyap and Gulshan Devaiah.
Playing Kiki, a con artist, Aishwarya found the experience of working with Anurag and Gulshan quite fulfilling.
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“I’ve always seen him (Anurag) as a director and I learnt a lot getting the opportunity to work with him as a co-actor. Just talking to him you gain a lot of knowledge. Gulshan was fun. Even during stressful moments on set he was always cracking jokes,” Aishwarya told us.
Shady Encounters
Being a part of the fashion world and then shifting to Bollywood, there is one question we wanted to ask her. Being such an attractive individual, have there been any weird incidents she might have faced?
“We are in show business and at times people think that a woman is naive. So let’s just see how she takes life and whether her values are intact or not. But I’d like to say that everyone knows their line here. Of course, I’ve had my share of experiences- where people who I’ve met have asked me come home and ‘see a movie’, but I never fell for it. We have to be aware politely how to get out of that situation. I’ve never worked in the corporate sector that I can make comparisons, but I’ve heard that these things happen everywhere, not just in show business, and as women we are extra careful about these things. They are life experiences,” she tells us, once again opening our eyes to the perils women face in any profession, let alone showbiz.
That last answer could very well be framed and passed on to newcomers as advice. Very simply put, but quite useful.
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