Exclusive: Ananya Panday talks about long distance relationships

Ananya Panday had a fulfilling year with her OTT projects Call Me Bae and CTRL being hits among critics and fans alike. She has also been making headlines for her rumoured relationship with former American model Walker Blanco. She joined Filmfare’s Editor-In-Chief Jitesh Pillaai for his show In The Ring With Filmfare where the actress opened up about her past and current relationship. She revealed that when she got into her first-ever relationship, she first asked her mother Bhavana Pandey for permission.

In her words, “My dad keeps telling me I am too honest for my own good. I can’t keep some things from certain people. When I had my first boyfriend in school, I remember when he asked me to be his girlfriend I said, ‘One second, let me ask my mom.’ I paused him and I called my mom and asked her whether I could date the guy.”

She also shared that her parents have a way of letting her know if they don’t approve of her partners. “They don’t come out there and disapprove of people but I understand from their mood and body language. There have been a few but they have not made it too obvious and with some, they were really chill,” she said.

Ananya then opened up about the kind of girlfriend she is and revealed that in the past, she had to change certain aspects of her personality for the guys she was dating.

Ananya shared, “Over time, I have become more comfortable in who I am and that has directly impacted my relationships. I had this thing of becoming who my partner is. Whatever their interests were, I would start liking those. If they wanted to do something I would kind of not do what I wanted to do and go with them. I would spend less time with my friends. I would make a lot of changes in my life even without them asking. I felt like it was something I had to do. In the past, I based a lot of my personality a lot on who I was dating. And the place I am in right now, I am comfortable in who I am right now and I am better at finding a balance between the person I am with and myself and not changing myself to become the other person but kind of finding like a sweet spot in the middle where two people can be happy without losing out on themselves. In the past, I have lost out on myself a lot.”

The actress was finally asked about how she handles long-distance relationships. While she did not mention her American beau directly, she shared her take on the same and said that she thinks it is quite healthy to have some space.

On being asked how often in a month she meets, Ananya said, “I think 45 days not meeting someone is good enough. I don’t think it is too bad. Two months is okay. Actually, distance does make the heart grow fonder.”