Friendship Day is over, but actor Sonal Panwar, who plays Malaika in Binaiferr and Sanjay Kohli’s Happu Ki Ultan Paltan, which is produced under their banner Edit II, doesn’t feel that one day is enough to celebrate friendship. She feels friends are the people with whom we get to choose ourselves, and they become our family.
She said, “Friendship is very important for me, and I don’t think one day is enough to celebrate it. I really believe that you choose your people and your friends around. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have any such choices in life. You can’t choose your mother, father, or family, but friends are the people that you choose. So I think it’s very important because they become your extended family in a way.”
“When you are staying away from your family in a city like Mumbai, I think friends can really be a really nice support system for you because it takes a lot to be in the city and then friendship. I definitely think if there are good people around and good friendships, then it becomes very easy to be honest. They are just like your support system,” she added.
Her best friend is Aarti Sharma, who is also an actor. She said, “I just love her. I admire her in every way. She’s beautiful; she’s pure of heart, and she’s always there for me. You know that feeling that somebody is just there, no matter what, good or bad; she’s just there. She’s just a call away. And right now I’m also missing her because she’s in Delhi and I’m in Mumbai. It’s been a long time since she’s been there. Otherwise, it used to be a thing that we always used to meet for coffee by the end of the day.”
“I used to come from my set; she used to come from her work. And then we used to sit and gossip, and so it was like a ritual. Ritual. So I definitely miss her. But that doesn’t make it. That doesn’t make it sound bad. Actually. I think it’s only contributing to the deeper bonds that we have,” she added.
Sonal believes that you really don’t need to maintain friendships. “I think pure relations, or I think a genuine relationship, doesn’t actually need much effort. Friendships, though, I think definitely not. Yes, yes. You just have to be there. You have to make sure that you are there in good or bad times. But I think it’s very effortless when it comes to genuine friendships because you don’t really think about that,” she said.
“You’re just there, always. So I don’t think it takes a lot to maintain that, because then you are just trying very hard to be there. But no, I think it’s effortless for me. Generally, friendships are very effortless,” she added.
Her friends on the set were Sanjay Choudhary and Ashna Kishore, who are no longer part of the show. She said, “We used to share a lot of things. Ashna is a very good friend to me. She’s not a part of the show right now, but she is a very good friend to me and always will be a good friend to me. And then, in that manner, I share a good bond with everybody on the set. If you are fighting, that can definitely affect the environment. But I think if you have a good bond, it’s just for the better. And thankfully, we do a comedy show where everything is so beautifully managed and organized, actually, so it really doesn’t affect us.”
How has friendship contributed to your personal and professional growth? “I think friendships have definitely contributed a lot to personal and professional growth. It definitely does it. As I told you, staying in a city like Mumbai is very tough if you have no friends. So definitely, you learn a lot from your friends. I learned a lot from my friend. I am somebody who reacts immediately to things, but my friend is not. She’s very, very calm and very possessed in that manner. So she’s like, she takes time to react to everything, and she is amazing at handling failures. And everything. And then I learned from her. I learned a lot from her also,” she said.
“One more thing. I think she’s that person who likes to get ready for everything, and she just loves herself. She’s her own favorite. So I think there is a lot to learn from your friends. And thankfully, I have many friends who belong to the same field and many friends who belong to other fields also. So I think it definitely does contribute a lot because you learn a lot from the people around you. And if you talk about friendships, then I am sure that the circle you live in definitely leaves an impact on your personal life,” she added.
