Sonakshi Sinha has never kept ‘khamosh’ when it comes to speaking her mind. In a recent tweet, which came as a reaction to reports that she is the only Indian female actor to enter the ₹1,500 crore club in the past decade, the actor shared how she kept her head held high and realised that “lobbying wasn’t needed, awards didn’t matter, fake friendships were beneath me and that there is no substitute for hard work”.

In her 10-year Bollywood journey, which started with a bang with Dabangg, Sonakshi has featured in over 20 films, apart from many special numbers in movies. She says she is aware of how hard she has worked, mostly uninterrupted, and that’s what matters. “Friendships come and go over here. Lobbying is something I don’t even think of. I’ve never gone to a producer and said ‘please give me work’. I’ve been truly fortunate that good work has always come to me.... My work ethic, the kind of hard work I put in, my principles... that’s what I think will take one forward. I’m happy doing that, keeping my head down and just concentrating on my job,” the actor tells us.

On the awards front, Sonakshi had bagged almost every big debutante honour for Dabangg. But she did feel “snubbed and underestimated” sometimes. But that only inspires the 32-year-old to do even better. “The critics are harsh on me because I come from a commercial school of films, and they don’t take too kindly to them. My best is yet to come. I want to think like that with every project that I do, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been performances that have been loved by the audiences and critics alike,” she says.

Sonakshi points out that her work in films such as Lootera (2013), Akira (2016), Noor (2017) and Kalank (2019), got a thumbs up from critics. “Praise does come your way, but unless you are friends with the higher-ups in the publications or at the awards, you won’t be featured in the nominations. You have to maintain a certain friendship with them, which is something I find stupid. I want to let my work speak for itself. And honestly, people like Aamir (Khan) and Kangana (Ranaut) have proved that you don’t have to get awards, especially to be called a great actor.”

But it’s not something that bothers her. “If I have to be somebody’s friend to get an award, I am sorry I can’t do that. But yes, I am very happy with the kind of response I get from the audiences,” she says.

Sonakshi recounts how at one award show, she was nominated for Lootera, and was confident about winning, but it went to another actor. “It felt strange... When I asked [them] how come you thought that the critics’ award should also go to the same actress who got popular choice award, they said that she had a better box office year,” Sonakshi says.

On a lighter note, she says, “If one goes by this logic, I should have won the award for each one of my ₹100 crore films that had released. That’s when I completely lost faith in any of this business and just decided to do my work and do it well.