India, Aug. 6 -- Actor Sanjeeda Shaikh has had a year to remember. She was first seen in Dhamaal 4, in an important supporting role that found praise from the audience. The film itself was a box-office success. Weeks later, she was in Ikka, a Netflix film starring Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna, where she held her own against the big stars, and again earned praise for the grey shades in her role. In conversation with Hindustan Times, the actor unpacks her year and talks about what is ahead.

Sanjeeda calls the drastic diversity in her two characters and the two films' genres accidental. "It just came to me. Jo hota hai na ki aapke naseeb mein jo hota hai woh aapko milta hi hai. (It's like whatever is in your destiny, you get it)," she says...