Aditi Rao Hydari on Skincare Secrets, Her Takeback From 2020 and 'Cancelled Plans’

Actor Aditi Rao Hydari has been quite busy in 2020, and 2021 is looking joyously-full for her as well. Her exuberance is infectious as she tells us about her lockdown project, a collaboration with sustainable fashion label Cancelled Plans, one in which she designed a capsule collection that resonates deeply with her own personal sense of style. We caught up with Aditi to ask her about her how this passion-project came about, the importance of sustainability in today’s day, the secret behind her flawless glowing skin and why she is not as afraid of Cheetahs as she should be. Read on to learn more. 

Cosmo India: What is your personal style ethos?

Aditi Rao Hydari: "Growing up, I have seen my mom and everybody in my family make a very conscious decision to always wear handloom and indigenous crafts and textile. I've seen a lot of that growing up, and I love it. Having said that, I do wear high street brands as well. At all times, I like to be effortless, whether I'm at leisure, going to the airport, or dressed in a sari or Indianwear. I like to feel that I could have woken up like this, that is the only way I can explain it. Style is such an extension of your personality, and I feel that you should wear the clothes, they shouldn’t wear you. If you are happy in what you wear, that energy is what people see. I only wear handloom in my personal wardrobe. I always try to pick sustainable brands, but I do sometimes end up wearing some fast fashion as well. For me being effortless, and enjoying what I wear, is the most important."

Cosmo India: Tell us about your new collaboration with Cancelled Plans.

Aditi: "It started during the lockdown. I like the ethos of the brand and Mallika is a friend, who sent me a present during the lockdown. I got this sweatshirt and I wore it non-stop. I  told her I wanted some co-ord sets, and she offered to customise them for me. During the process of designing these, we decided to come together to put out a small capsule collection. We made do with whatever we could get our hands-on in terms of colours and material as because of the lockdown, factories did not have a lot of recycled fabric available. It was a homegrown collection in the truest sense of the word, a creative lockdown project we embarked on for fun."

Cosmo India: According to you, what makes sustainable fashion so important in 2021?

Aditi: "Sustainability as a philosophy is important, not just in 2021 but for the rest of our lives. It is something that we have to become more aware of, it needs to be a way of living and not just limited to fashion. To me, sustainability is about not being wasteful, and being conscious of the kind of burden that we put on the environment. It’s about reducing waste and understanding how to do it. A lot of people wrongly feel that sustainability is the prerogative of the privileged. With a little awareness and understanding, avoiding waste can be inculcated into everyone’s daily lives. Rather than a trend or a buzzword, it is the way forward, not just in fashion but in a larger scheme of things, in building and town planning as well. I think the most important thing is awareness. When jargon is used, one doesn’t pay heed to it because we don’t see the impact immediately. But it is going to impact us badly, and that future is closer than we know. Understanding the magnitude of what is occurring is very important for us all, including me. It’s not that I have it all figured out, sometimes I tend to be wasteful. But I am trying to build more awareness and work towards it." 

Cosmo India: Did you enjoy the design process? What was the inspiration behind your collection?

Aditi: "The inspiration behind my connection is simple. I like the ethos of the brand. We were in lockdown and I was itching to do something creative and fun. Collaborating with Malika was effortless because we give each other space and we listened to each other, we trusted each other. I enjoyed the whole creative process of ideation and visualisation, of putting myself into what I was designing. I am not a designer, so Malika told me to design how I would like to dress and share it with people. I put my self into it, the little things that I liked. When we struggled with the process of printing, I came up with an idea which Malika then improved. It was so homegrown, we even did the shoot all by ourselves, there was no hair and makeup, just us. We pulled stuff out of my wardrobe, used her uncle’s vintage cars and shot it on an iPhone. I think that’s what made it so fun, it was all heart!"

Cosmo India: You debuted with Sringaram in 2007. How's the journey been for you? 

Aditi: "When I debuted I wasn't an actor, I was studying and I was very serious about dancing. There was a bit of a gap before I actually decided to come to Bombay and become an actor. I loved acting and being in front of the camera, but I can't say that I was part of the Bombay industry till 2010-2011. What made a real difference was the understanding that the day you are comfortable with who you are and when you know who you are, that is when things start changing. You start out young and confused, chasing a dream, and then one day, the penny drops. I feel there has to be a sense of dignity in what you do. It’s very important to work hard and have the courage to be your true self, that is the day things started changing for me."

Cosmo India: What are your plans for the future?

Aditi: "2021 is looking nice and busy, and I actually had quite a busy 2020 as well, with two releases during the lockdown and I worked on three projects in various languages. I think that's what I enjoy a lot, for me, it's never been about language or region, it's really been about the stories, filmmakers and actors that I'm working with. Those forty to fifty days that you spend on the set, how creatively challenging it is, and how much fun it is. There is a thrill when people you respect from various industries see you as part of their vision. I’m really enjoying the whole ride, it is something I always dreamt of doing, that I move closer to accomplishing with every film."

 

Cosmo India: You are known to be an accomplished dancer, but we hear you pretty good singer as well...

Aditi: "I'm actually a trained dancer, I started learning when I was five years old and it’s something I took very seriously, but I'm not a trained singer. My mom sings, so I think I managed to get some good genes there! When I did attempt playback singing, I was quite under-confident, but I didn’t want to be auto-tuned. I gained some confidence when I tried something live, for a very large stadium in the US. Having attempted it once took the fear out of me, and I took the plunge and attempted playback for a film. I am happy that it went really well, and people really liked it!"

Cosmo India: We have to ask you about your flawless, glowing skin. What is your secret? 

Aditi: "I think skin is mainly genetic luck, and that's the truth, my grandmother and mother have really beautiful skin, much better than me!  I'm very sustainable when it comes to my skin, I use mostly homegrown stuff that I get from the kitchen, especially fruits and vegetables that are organic. I pretty much just put them onto my face whenever I have some time. I also make my own skincare products, for example, I make my own like hair oil. My mother's brought me up with a lot of natural stuff, so I enjoy concocting stuff, and there are a lot of people who call me and ask for my help with skincare woes. I think there is there is there's a hidden doctor in me (laughs) and I love doing all this. I try using natural products as much as I can help it, or simple products like this micro-essence from L’oreal that I endorse. My skin is quite delicate, I don’t want to overburden it."

Cosmo India: You are known to love animals, and are fearless working with cheetahs and pythons! Tell us about your belief in the cause of animal rights. 

Aditi: "I have grown up surrounded by animals and I absolutely love them. I see videos of the way that people treat animals, it breaks my heart and makes me so angry. I don’t know much about the legalities of animal rights, for me, it’s completely from the heart. All living beings, be it animals or human, must be treated with respect and not tortured. I love animals, even though I have been bitten multiple times by street cats while trying to rescue them. I remember that I was shooting for a song, and there were cheetahs all around me (trained, of course). I don’t know why but I had absolutely no fear. One of the trainer’s told me to keep taking a particular cheetah’s name because he was looking at me like I was a snack. My makeup artist had multiple panic attacks, but I was unafraid, perhaps foolishly so." 

Cosmo India: 2020 was quite a year, and what's been your biggest take-back?

Aditi: "Giving priority and time to people and things that you love, and that need your attention. And just kindness, generosity, and more sensitivity. Also, the fact that you don’t need so much, I've done two cover shoots including one for Cosmo, and I didn't have any hair, makeup, wardrobe— nothing— I worked just with natural light. That's when I realised how dependant we get on people, I love and value my team and it’s great to have them around, but I now think less is more and we can make more sustainable choices, we don’t have to be wasteful."

Cosmo India: What's your favourite childhood memory?

Aditi: "Holidays at my maternal grandmother's house in Hyderabad. It was a lovely house for kids, you could play hide-and-seek for hours and never find anybody. I was very close to my maternal grandmother, and the stories that she told me while eating buckets of mangoes in our swimwear (to avoid getting my clothes dirty), these are the loveliest summer holiday memories."

Cosmo India: The one thing nobody knows about Aditi Rao Hydari?

Aditi: "There are so many things that people know about me that even I don't know about myself (laughs)! Most people don’t know that I have dimples on my shoulder and that when I am really angry I shed these big, fat tears."