Anushka Sharma was lately seen with Shah Rukh Khan in Jab Harry Met Sejal.

Actress Anushka Sharma, whose film Jab Harry Met Sejal released lately, has said that she has moved beyond bubbly kind of roles and couldn’t relate to such characters. The actress further added that this change surprised people around her who thought that Anushka has become a different person. The gorgeous lady made her big Bollywood debut alongside superstar Shah Rukh Khan with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and has now become one of the top actresses of the industry.

“I remember there was a time in my life when I did a lot of these extrovert kind of roles. But there was this phase when I got really… Maybe because I was changing as a person, I realised I could not relate to these things anymore,” Anushka told PTI in an interview.

The actor says this change confused people around her, who felt she had suddenly become a different person.

“There were people around me, who had perhaps known me for a while like friends, industry people and journalists, they felt that there was something wrong with me. That suddenly I was different. But that’s the natural progression that you go through.”

The actor, who has emerged as one of the top female stars in Bollywood within a short span of time, has teamed up with Shah Rukh for the third time with Jab Harry Met Sejal, a romance drama by director Imtiaz Ali.

The actor says while the pragmatic outlook of her character may appear like her real-life persona, Sejal wasquite dissimilar to her and it took her a while to understand and approach the part.

“Imtiaz and Shah Rukh have also said that Sejal, according to them, is similar to me but a lot of times we associate a screen image that an actor has to his or her own personality. How we diversify these roles is very simple – the girl is either bubbly or she is serious.

“But this extrovert persona carries a lot of other personalities. I think Sejal and I are quite dissimilar,” she says.

Talking about Imtiaz’s films, Anushka says she likes his approach towards women and his ability to take the usual and create something unique out of it.

“His female characters are seeking freedom, whether they are aware of it or not. It is something that most Indian girls will be able to relate to. This is why his stories are so popular, especially amongst the youth and people who are at the fulcrum of that change. It happened to me when I saw ‘Jab We Met’ because I was at that stage in my life.”

Anushka says while there is a lot of discussion on women’s rights and equality, she belongs to the generation, which is still rooted that is also seeking independence.