Exclusive! Aakanksha Singh on completing 10 years in the entertainment industry and her upcoming projects

Actress Aakanksha Singh, who began her career on the small screen, couldn't have asked for a better debut in the South Indian film industry than Gowtam Tinnanuri's directorial Malli Raava. The finely crafted, multi-faceted role was tailormade to extract the performer in her and she has only been growing from strength to strength in the film world ever since. Besides an occasional Hindi film, she is quite familar name in Telugu films, has now established herself in the Kannada industry and is set to make her Tamil debut also shortly.

As she completes a decade in the entertainment industry, we asked her what has helped her stay sane and be relevant all this while? Aakanksha admits to being choosy with her projects over these years but says, "I am a firm believer in the hare and the tortoise story. My career may be progressing slowly but it's definitely growing with each passing day in terms of the roles and projects I'm offered. I am here to stay for long and work hard towards accomplishing it. I am looking at quality over quantity."

The cherry on the cake recently has been her OTT debut with the Telugu web show Parampara, where she was cast in the role of a journalist named Rachana and shared screenspace alongside Naveen Chandra, Ishaan, Jagapathi Babu and Sarath Kumar. The role had her play a London-educated woman who is looking to take over her late father's long-forgotten publishing house. "It's true that people have found me more apt in the girl-next-door roles but Parampara gave me an opportunity to play a woman of substance and a character with multiple shades," she states.

She has impressive lineup of projects, most of which are expected to release in 2022. Aakanksha is part of Deepthi Ghanta's (actor Nani's sister) directorial debut, an anthology named Meet Cute. "I can't wait to watch Meet Cute to come out. Very rarely do you get something that you feel really proud of. Her writing and direction was so good that I hardly felt she was a newcomer," Aakanksha mentions. 

Meanwhile, she can't wait to watch herself as a sportswoman (hockey player) on the big screen with Aadhi Pinisetty's Clap. She has also teamed up with the actor for a web series as well. Aakanksha will be returning to Hindi cinema with Ajay Devgn's directorial Runaway 34, that also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Rakul Preet Singh in key roles.