When living at home with her parents, Ananya Panday often indulged in thoughts of what things she would do differently, in her own unique way, if she had her own place. “It seems so silly and small, but I wanted to buy my own cutlery and host people a certain way,” she says. Now seated in the living room of her first home – a breezy one-bedroom apartment just a few storeys up from her parents’ place in Bandra, Mumbai – the 25-year-old actor tells us that this new acquisition happened quite naturally, as did getting its interiors done by designer and long-time family friend Gauri Khan.
Having begun her acting career in 2019, with the Karan Johar production Student of the Year 2, Panday is now at an exciting point in her career. Her depiction of a twenty-something year-old in the coming of age film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, which released on Netflix in December 2023, has been called her best performance yet by many reviewers. She is a global brand ambassador for Jimmy Choo and Swarovski, among other names, and also made her international runway debut in Paris at the Haute-Couture Spring/Summer Fashion Week in January 2024, walking the ramp for designer Rahul Mishra. It does seem to be a great time to get her own place. “I think it has become a symbol and metaphor for me actually growing up and taking responsibility,” she echoes.
“I wanted people to walk in and be like, we imagined your house to be exactly like this; an extension of my personality,” Panday says. If the big pink door at the entrance doesn’t give it away, Panday’s home is undeniably “girly” in an effortless way, and reminds one of recent trends that brazenly reclaim elements associated with girlhood – powder pinks, florals, ribbons, big bows – as statement design features. The pink continues through the main corridor and makes further appearances as accent walls in the walk-in closet, which she acknowledges is possibly “every little girl’s dream,” as well as the bedroom. A small but well-equipped kitchen with baby blue shelves and white countertops, also features along the corridor. When giving us a tour of the house, Panday stops here to tell us that she has recently found a love for baking, and lists baking cookies and having a good meal among her favourite ways to unwind.
A controlled colour palette extends through the rest of the home, even as it is texturally rich and diverse with fluting along certain walls, wallpapers, plush furnishings and rugs. The living and dining areas, which the corridor opens out to, are rendered almost entirely in beiges and creams, with custom made furniture from Gauri Khan Designs. A separate TV area sits at the far end of the living room, and houses Panday’s growing book collection. Also extending from the living room is a large balcony dotted with plants, and a fair amount of seating space.
Gauri Khan was the obvious choice for the interiors. Having done homes for Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Siddharth Malhotra, and others, Khan seems to be the indisputable queen of Bollywood home interiors, and having a space featuring her signature designs almost serves as a rite of passage in the industry. That apart, Panday shares a deeply personal relationship with the designer. Afterall, Panday’s parents, Chunky Panday and Bhavana Panday, have been long time friends with Khan and her husband, Shah Rukh Khan. “Honestly, I didn’t have to say much to her because I’ve grown up around her and she’s been like another mother to me. I think she just understood from the get go. And she was very open to collaborating, open to ideas, open to discussions,” Ananya Panday explains.