Six years ago, a new face emerged in the bustling world of Bollywood, Banita Sandhu. In April 2024, she marked six years in the industry. Sandhu’s debut came in 2018 with the critically acclaimed film October, helmed by Shoojit Sircar and starring Varun Dhawan. Since then, Sandhu has worked on several projects – in India and abroad. The British-Indian actress was recently seen in season 3 of the British series Bridgerton. She played the role of Miss Malhotra in the new season. Part 1 of the series premiered on May 16, 2024, with Part 2 scheduled for release on June 13, 2024.

In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Sandhu talked about cracking the audition during a vacation and how she had to quickly fly back to London. She said, “The project came just as an audition. Actually, it was in the summer of 2022 and my agent in the UK sent me a self-tape. I literally shot it and two days later, I had a call saying I got it. I was on holiday at the time. So I had to pack up my stuff and go back to London really quickly. And then next thing I knew I was in costume trials like it all happened very quickly.”

Speaking of the series, Sandhu admitted she hadn’t read the books but had watched the show. She continued, “I hadn’t read the books before. But I’ve obviously watched the seasons before. I was really lucky to meet Julia Quinn, who is the author of the books. She’s a wonderful writer, and I was telling her how excited I am for the future seasons and to go back and read the books.”

When asked what it about the show that left her awestruck, Sandhu added, “It’s such a grand scale of production. But the attention to detail was what impressed me the most, because of just the level of detailing in the costume and the makeup in the sets. We would shoot in these real manors in England. We’d go to these different locations outside of London; we’d all be staying in a hotel; we’d be doing night shoots for the ballroom scenes. For one ballroom scene, it would take like at least four to five days. But it was just the grand scale of a production and there were so many moving parts, but everything worked so seamlessly, which was the craziest thing because one thing could derail the whole production. But the way it just kept moving, it was like a big piece of machinery. And it was a beautiful machinery to say.”

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Netflix unveiled the trailer for the much-anticipated second half of Season 3, and it hints at a love story blooming between fan favourites Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). However, a familiar shadow of scandal looms large – Lady Whistledown’s secret identity.

On the work front, Banita Sandhu will be starring in Adivi Sesh’s Goodachari 2, marking her debut in the Telugu film industry.