Karnesh Sharma: My sis, Anushka

Batting for bro!

As children, Anushka and I celebrated Raksha Bandhan before heading to school as we didn't have holidays. We started with a morning puja and her tying me a rakhi. And usually it's the brother who gifts his sister something, but I remember this one time -- I used to play cricket then -- she saved up enough pocket money to buy me a cricket bat, which was a special moment for me.

'I threw a party'

It was a very emotional moment for all of us when she got finalised for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, especially because I wasn't in Mumbai but sailing on the ship (I was in the Merchant Navy then) and I remember throwing a lot of parties for all the crew members on board and everyone celebrating. They were happy -- we are like family on the ship -- and felt like one of their own had done something great. Watching the first promo of the film was another extremely emotional moment for me. I was in Amsterdam at that time and it felt really special to see her act in a Yash Raj film opposite Shah Rukh Khan and be directed by Adi sir (Aditya Chopra). I was proud of her.

She's calmer

Anushka is honest, straight-forward and very clear about what she wants. I think I am like that, too. That's how we were brought up. Also, she's calmer than me. I am a little more restless and get over-emotional at times. But I think I am learning to be calmer than what I am.

Twin souls

On the creative front, I think, we are like twin souls as our tastes in cinema are pretty much the same. We like the same movies. As per astrology, they make your janampatri and according to the planetary charts, ours is almost the same. In fact, at times, it's very difficult to make out whose chart is whose. So yes, we are universally aligned like twins and destined to like the same things and almost the same people.

Keeping her aware

We started our own production house Clean Slate Films with NH10. It was Anushka's decision to go ahead and venture into film production. I was still working in Yash Raj at that point of time and I thought there were still a couple of years for me to settle down, but NH10 just came about and it made better sense if one was to be more involved in the film than just be an actor. That was a start for us. The film released, was critically appreciated and did well at the box-office, so it just gave us more confidence to back ourselves and make good cinema. To be honest, everything we do is shared, from creatives to running the production of it. Anushka might not be physically present, and understandably so, but she is totally involved and in sync with what is happening in the film.

Bring on the appreciation!

Sometimes people come and tell me about their perception of Anushka and me being this power brother-sister duo who struck gold right in their first film. I think it's very flattering that people are appreciative of what we are trying to do and what we have done. It gives us encouragement to do better with every project that we have on. In Clean Slate, our objective is to invest in newer, upcoming creative talent and I think appreciation just gives us more courage to go out there and invest in newer people and back them. I hope it continues and the appreciation just keeps coming.

3 things only Anushka's family knows

1. She gets restless when she has to pack for an outdoor trip. It's really stressful for her and I have a good laugh about it.
2. She wakes up early in the morning from her sleep, out of hunger. So she has something kept for her in the kitchen for her to eat and binge on, and then she gets back to sleep.
3. Thirdly, she has read the Bhagvad Gita and Ramayan multiple times and she loves reading them time and again.