Tara Sutaria on making Bollywood debut with star kids: We're lucky in our own ways at both ends of the spectrum

Karan Johar’s latest find, Tara Sutaria, who is making her Bollywood debut with  _Student Of The_ _Year 2_ , is calm and composed even as the countdown to her first film has begun (releases on 10 May).

Her confidence can be attributed to the fact that the 23-year-old has been a VJ and also has two successful sitcoms to her credit. Adding to that, at the age of five, Tara started learning Western classical music and has been performing on stage for the past 15 years. She has been part of musical theatres like Raell Padamsee’s production of the musical Grease and Ashwin Gidhwani’s production Blame It On Yashraj.

[caption id=“attachment_6583621” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Tara Sultaria. Facebook[/caption]

“But Student Of The Year 2 is completely my debut,” she clarifies. “I am lucky that I have been raised in the arts and have been performing all my life, but this is a completely different world for me. Dharma (Productions) launch is quite magical. It felt bit of a holiday because we were shooting in such beautiful locations in Mussoorie,” she says. And lucky she indeed is. Even when her first film has not hit the screens, her second film,  _Marjaavaan_  opposite Sidharth Malhotra is complete. Then, Tara’s third film, opposite Suniel Shetty’s son Ahan, which is a remake of Telugu film _RX100_ , will go on floors in June this year.

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“I just packed up Marjavaan (touted as an emotional and violent love story) and I am starting my third film as well. I don’t think it happens too often to lot of people so it really makes you feel blessed and grateful. I thought one film this year would be huge and now, there are three,” says Tara, who wishes to be a playback singer in the near future.

Student Of The Year 2 is the sequel of 2012 hit Student Of The Year, a college drama which was directed by Karan Johar. The film launched three new actors — Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra. Student Of The Year 2 tells the story of the new batch of students of the prestigious Saint Teresa’s College, including Rohan (Tiger Shroff), Shreya (Ananya Panday) and Mia (Tara), and their race to win the coveted ‘Student Of The Year’ trophy.

While Alia is also a part of the sequel with ‘ _Hook Up Song_ ’ for which she paired up with Tiger for the first time, Varun and Sidharth were not able to make an appearance in the sequel, probably because of their tight schedule. “It would have been so special had all of us come together for a song, or a scene but everyone is so busy. But, of course, Alia and Tiger have done this very sexy number," says Tara.

Tara may not have faced any kind of setback working with two star kids, her co-stars — Tiger (son of Jackie Shroff) and Ananya Pandey (daughter of Chunky Pandey), but says that she found Ananya “very filmy” and “very Dharma” when she met her during the Diwali pooja at the Dharma Productions office. “We did the aarti together and sang ‘Om Jai Jagdish Hare’ as if we were filming K3G (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…) or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. So there were never any inhibitions working with the two and you can see that in the film,” she says.

“Ananya and I are completely different people in so many ways. She is so outgoing and chatty, whereas I am always reserved and more to myself. But it was so nice to have her around. She is really easy and chilled out, and when I get emotional or stressed she would be there for me,” Tara adds.

[caption id=“attachment_6430681” align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]  Tara Sultaria, Tiger Shroff and Ananya Panday in posters of Student Of The Year 2. Twitter[/caption]

However, she could gel more easily with Tiger as she found many things common between them. “Tiger is a lot like me. We are both very shy people. We don’t express too many things. He and I got along as soon as we met, and we started talking about things we were both obsessed with, like music, dance, Michael Jackson.” she says. “I think both ends of the spectrum, we are lucky in our own ways. I don’t have a filmy background so it is definitely advantageous to me. It is something that people weren’t expecting and I am excited to hopefully prove that I deserve to do this.”

Is it twice the pressure, that on one hand, it is her debut and on the other hand, it is a franchise? “There is no pressure from the producer or from Punit (Malhotra, director), from Karan, or from the ‘ex-students’. But the expectations naturally are very high because the first film was what it was. It is one of the most awaited films of the year, so we are very fortunate to have that tag associated with the film. But we are definitely very nervous and anxious,” says Tara.

Trolls and memes on the over-the-top world of college romance in the film followed soon after the trailer dropped on social media. Defending the film, Tara says, “It is so cool that in the film we got to focus on music, art form, sports, which most colleges usually ignore. Everything looks so beautiful. Even the page on the book is turning looks so beautiful. It is amazing how they manage to do that,” she laughs.

Tara is also a trained dancer in classical ballet, modern and Latin American dance forms. So naturally, what she enjoyed the most was matching steps with Tiger, who is known to be one of the most proficient and finest dancers in Bollywood. “Tiger is so relaxed. He is so comfortable with himself and his performances and of course, he is a perfectionist. It was nice that after having trained in dance for so long to be able to find a dance partner in Tiger. It can’t get better than that.”

The budding actress also got a chance to shake a leg with Hollywood superstar Will Smith. According to Tara, she had a chance to work with the star even before she signed up for the film. “I auditioned for  _Aladdin_  and I was supposed to play the character of Jasmine in that. I went to London and did a workshop with the director. They wanted to find the right boy as well because the chemistry was also important. But then, it did not work out,” she sighs.

Tara is rumoured to be dating another Dharma discovery and her Marjavaan co-star, Sidharth Malhotra. The fact that they are neighbours has further fueled speculation of a potential romance. “That is again something we were prepared for. We were expecting it especially when you are working with Dharma (laughs out loud). It is fun. It is exciting. We are all young. It is cute. Sid is wonderful. We just finished the film together and we get along very well. He is my neighbour, so we have lot to talk about. We have some great conversations,” she signs off.