Want to do films that are different: Alizeh Agnihotri on 'Farrey'

Mumbai: Newcomer Alizeh Agnihotri says it was a deliberate decision to debut with a unique film like “Farrey” and she wants to continue to make similar choices in her career.

Agnihotri, who is the daughter of filmmaker Atul Agnihotri and Alvira Khan Agnihotri, sister of superstar Salman Khan, said she is grateful to the audiences for embracing the film that's not a typical romance story.

“ ‘Farrey’ is big. It’s a newcomer film. It’s a female protagonist film and it is catering to what the audience wants today. I don’t think ‘Farrey’ is that unusual, but when you compare it with other industry launches, it is different. It is not a love story or all of that. For a girl, it’s a different way to be presented in the movie industry,” the 23-year-old actor told PTI in an interview.

The film, directed by Soumendra Padhi of "Budhia Singh: Born to Run” and “Jamtara: Sabka Number Ayega” fame, delves into the complex world of academic deception, where a scholarship recipient, the orphaned genius Niyati (Alizeh), becomes unwittingly entangled in a high stakes cheating racket orchestrated by her affluent peers.

Released on November 24, the movie has garnered positive reviews.

Alizeh studied acting at the Uta Hagen Institute before training under Juhi and Nadira Babbar's theatrical group ‘Ekjute’. The young actor said doing "Farrey" was a challenge and an interesting opportunity that helped her play to her strengths.

" 'Farrey’ is exactly the kind of movie that I would watch. This is all I wished and hoped for and I’m glad that it played out - ‘I want to do a film that I enjoy’. You should always try to do something different and challenging. I want to carry forward this thing in every film that I do,” she said, adding she would love to work with director Meghna Gulzar.

Coming from a film family comes with a burden of expectations but Alizeh hopes that she is able to create a name for herself.

“Nobody in my family has ever told me that I should do this or I should not do that. All my family members have told me that whatever I have done has worked for me. I should continue with the same mindset and carry that forward. Hopefully, in some time, I’ll be able to create a name for myself and people will focus more on Alizeh than what family I’m from,” the actor said.

Recently actors Khushi Kapoor, daughter of Sridevi and Boney Kapoor, and Suhana Khan, daughter of Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, made their debut with the ‘Netflix’ film “The Archies”.

"More the merrier" is how Alizeh looks at the debut of the two young actors.

"I have known Suhana very well from childhood. Actually, I know both of them. I’m not a competitive person. I don’t think about what others are doing. I don’t position myself like that as I’m only focused about my own work. I compete with myself. However, it is an exciting time to be a young actor today in this country, especially with the kind of content and the amount of content that people are making. There’s space for everyone, so the more the merrier.”

“Farrey” is produced by ‘Reel Life Production’ and is presented by ‘Salman Khan Films’ (SKF), ‘Mythri Movie Makers’ and ‘Athena’.