Actor Aneet Padda, who recently caught widespread attention for her role in Saiyaara, has opened up about the moment that first nudged her toward acting. In a fresh conversation with Grazia, the 23-year-old shared that her love for performing began much earlier than her formal debut in Salaam Venky (2022).
Before audiences saw her on screen as Nandini opposite Vishal Jethwa, Aneet experienced her first taste of performance in a school poetry competition. She described herself as an “oblivious child who daydreamed a lot,” but her mother’s simple advice changed the way she approached the stage.
Her mother had told her to stop memorising mechanically and instead “say it the way you feel it.” That shift, she revealed, helped her win first prize. The recognition left a lasting impact. “I remember thinking, wow, that feels kind of nice. I wouldn’t mind another one,” she said, reflecting on the moment that planted the first seed of her acting dreams.
Aneet continued to take part in school plays through the years, even if the roles weren’t always glamorous. She joked about being cast as “the equivalent of a tree,” but those early experiences shaped her instincts. Her teachers and school principal were among the first to recognise her natural emotional expression.
“One day my principal told me, You’re very good at this. I don’t think you know,” she recalled. That encouragement, she admits, was the first time she saw acting as more than an extracurricular activity, it felt like a real skill.
