Rakshabandhan special: Ankur and Sonia Rathee on oscillating between the meaningless & the meaningful | Web Series
Actor Ankur Rathee, best known for his roles in web projects Four More Shots Please, MOM: Mission Over Mars and Made in Heaven and younger sister Sonia Rathee, who recently starred in Broken But Beautiful 3, are just like any other siblings. They squabble at times, but also can’t live without each other. As best friends, they have each other’s bank. This Raksha Bandhan, they talk to us about growing up together, their sibling bond and how they plan to celebrate the day. Excepts:
What kind of relationship do you share with each other?
Sonia: We strike a pretty even balance. There are days where we can’t stop laughing, days where we have extremely serious conversations about our lives, and days where we can’t stand each other!
Ankur: We oscillate drastically between the meaningless and meaningful. One day we’re screaming at each other over groceries, and next moment, we’re confiding an emotional dilemma to the other.
Growing up, who was notorious and who was the quieter one?
Sonia: Ankur knows how to capture a room’s attention, so he’s always been more outspoken and I’ve been the quiet one. That being said, I was definitely more evil, always getting him in trouble for something I did.
Ankur: Neither of us was quiet, but Sonia was definitely the loudest. I remember many times getting in trouble because my parents heard her screaming, the assumption being that I must have hurt her. Only sometimes was that true. We both were well behaved, but she was definitely more of a troublemaker.
One thing, any quality, that you love about each other?
Sonia: There are too many! He’s kind of like my role model, so there are a lot of things I admire about him. If I had to pick one, it’d be his sense of poise. He’s so good with words, extremely diplomatic and just incredible with compartmentalising. I tend to get affected quite a lot, and can’t hold it together at times but he’s always on his A game.
Ankur: She has a very carefree approach to big decisions and milestones. I, on the other hand, have a tendency to over think and complicate things. I get in my own way sometimes while she’s able to confidently traverse challenges in a ‘flow state’.
Anything that you would like to change about each other?
Ankur: Her choice in movies. Sonia’s appetite for C-grade cinema baffles me.
Sonia: How much he thinks about everything! Even the smallest of decisions have so much thought behind them, I get irritated just watching him think.
How are you going to celebrate Rakhi this year?
Sonia: Probably spend the day together eating food and roaming the city.
Ankur: We’regoing to cook yummy food, watch funny content, and share silly stories.
Being in the same profession, how much notes do you share or discuss work with one another?
Sonia: Honestly, a majority of our conversations end up with us discussing acting since we’re both so passionate about it. We often will pause a movie in the middle and talk about the scene and the choices the actors made.
In terms of discussing one another’s work, surprisingly we don’t as much, probably because we know one another so well, it’s hard to look at it objectively. And also because it’s nice to have a safe space and judgment free zone when you come home.
Ankur: Acting is a never ending topic in our home. We definitely share our thoughts on each others’ work, but we also do our best to maintain some distance when it comes to our profession. We get enough criticism from outsiders, so it’s a relief not to get it at home.
