“AJAY HAS NOT SO FAR WATCHED MY FILM 'MY NAME IS KHAN' THOUGH I HAVE WATCHED HIM IN 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI”

KAJOL tells JYOTHI VENKATESH

Today is Kajol’s 46^th birthday. We at bollyy.com and Mayapuri wish Kajol a happy birthday by reproducing this interview of KAJOL taken when she was promoting her film ‘We Are Family’ ten years ago by JYOTHI VENKATESH who was a very good friend of her late father Shomu Mukherjee.

How would you describe ‘We Are Family’?

All that I can say about Karan Johar’s We Are Family is that we have made a good film by Indianising Step Mom. It helped us that the premise of the original film is very Indian by nature. I feel that Step Mom itself looked like it was made for Bollywood audiences, because it was very Indian as far as its sensitivity was concerned, though the original version did not have songs. The scenes in the film are very crispy and to the point. It is the kind of film where you can avoid interaction with your co-actor because you have got to give your 300% to the project.

Kajol

How unnerving was it to play Maya?

I’d definitely say that it was very unnerving to play the role of Maya, which someone like Suzanne Sarandon had already done on an International platform. When I heard my role, I felt that I could reasonably do justice to the role and hence I accepted it. Yet, all said and done, there is always a feeling of insecurity whether you would be able to do justice because there will be comparison. The biggest challenge that was before me was to give the role its own unique flavor and identity and also play it the way I wanted to play it with my own inimitable style.

How would you describe Maya?

Maya is a character with which each and every woman will be able to identify with. She is not only a perfect mother but also a good mother of three kids. What is interesting about Maya is that she is so easily predictable. In real life, we may not compromise at one stage because our self respect comes in our way but then we try to be the perfect bahu or for that matter the perfect mother. I have seen Maya in a lot of women in real life. Maya is a list maker and I have met so many women like her who make a list every day for whatever she plans to do.

Is the character of Maya designed to win the sympathy of the audiences?

I hope the situation in which Maya finds herself in We Are Family does not arise in any woman’s life. It is a very hypothetical situation in the film. It is like death for which you are not prepared at all. Till you are faced with the problem you will not be able to realize it or for that come to term with it. There is nothing called perfection in life. If you aim for perfection, I think you are bound to fail, because I find that sometimes I am a better daughter in law whereas sometimes I am a better daughter. Sometimes I am a better ‘me’. I think you have to love yourself to love people better.

Was it easy to play the role of a mother since you are one in real life too?

When you set out to play the role of a mother, you have a natural tone of voice and body- language as a mother and you should also know simple things like how to turn a child at night on bed comfortably, making it look quite natural. We can take our experiences from our day to day life, as an actress and do justice to our roles. It is just an uncanny coincidence that in all my last three films as an actress- U Me Aur Hum, My Name is Khan and We Are Family, I have played the role of a mother, though in varying degrees. You have got to try to do every character in a different way. I do not think that I will be successful always because most of the time I only end up finding faults with me when I set out to watch my films after they are released.

In what way do you think movie making has changed since the Bazzigar days?

The concept of movies has changed a lot since Baazigar was made. Before Baazigar, every film had to have a love story as the basis with seven songs thrown in and in the end the hero and the heroine had to be happy. Thankfully clichéd and conventional films are no longer being made and today you can have a film like Peepli Live competing with a mainstream film like Golmaal Returns at the same time.

Go on!

Today you have a wider choice as the audience. The success of a film depends on a lot on how you market it and how eventually people are able to identify with it. Today I feel that it is much easier for an actress like me to say no especially considering the price factor. I would not say that my choices as an actress have changed over the years since I had made my debut with Bekhudi but my approach has definitely changed a lot today

Were you apprehensive about taking up the role since Sidharth Malhotra is making his debut as a director?

I am of the opinion that the script should be good. Or else, however good the actor or for that matter the director is, it would not work at all. The script should back you on the screenplay level. I did not plan to do ‘We Are Family’. When Siddharth Malhotra narrated the role, I realized that the role was awesome and the script very good and hence I agreed to do the film. To tell you the truth, when he told me that he wanted to narrate the subject, I was a little apprehensive about whether he would be able to do justice to the film since he is a new director. If you do not have that kind of apprehension or you are not worried as an actress, you’d be a fool. If your director is new, you make your own adjustments and work. Fortunately for me, Sid was good at the end of the day.

Kajol

Does the ‘price factor’ matter for an actor today?

What I mean is that today, as actors, the price factor actually does not matter. What matters more is how you position your film and what its budget is. As far as the cine-goer is concerned,  the ticket should be worth the money that he spends on watching a film or else he would end up feeling very disappointed

How was the experience of working with Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor in We Are Family?

You cannot just write off the role of Arjun Rampal in the film as an incidental character because he is the kind of filler without whom, the film by itself will not be complete. I have not seen any film recently where two women are pitted together like in ‘We Are Family’. Bebo was very young when she acted in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham with me. I think it was her second or third film and she was just a novice at that point of time with no experience at all. It has made a huge difference to Bebo now when she is cast in this film because experience counts a lot and she has become more mature as an actress.

How happy are you with your life today?

I have nothing to hide. I am very proud of the fact that I am married to a wonderful man. I do not hide it. I wake up and thank God every day for whoever I have with me today, whether it is my parents, children, in laws, sister or my husband. I have a wonderful family. They love me to death, though I do not know whether they like me. And on top of it, I have lakhs of my fans in not only our country but all over the world who love me for what I am. I am eternally grateful to God for giving me Nysa as a present. Nysa is also waiting for my D Day. Her only complaint nowadays is that she cannot hug me like before. Nysa is daddy’s darling. I am the bad cop while Ajay is the good cop. Both Ajay and I wish to have a healthy baby and it does not matter whether it is a boy or a daughter.

In what way has Ajay Devgn changed after marriage?

My husband Ajay does not see my films. I tell him to watch my film. Can you believe it, he has not so far watched my film My Name Is Khan though I have watched him in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai. I should concede that Ajay has changed a lot since our marriage a decade ago. Earlier before I married him, he never had the feeling that he has a responsibility to work for. Though he hardly gives me or Nysa time, on holidays he gives a lot of time to us and even asks us to visit him on location whenever he shoots abroad so that he can spend more time with us. If you ask me whether I get mad at him, all that I can say is that I get even with him though I dote on him.

Kajol

How do you find motherhood now for the second time?

Motherhood is fulfilling and awesome. It is the combination of every one’s expectations put together. I keep myself calm and have stopped worrying and taking stress unnecessarily and am concentrating more on myself. I spend time on myself and take a nap when I feel sleepy. I love being pregnant and love the fact that everyone is pampering me. As a parent, it is an ongoing workshop for me everyday in life now. I feel that I am the best mother in the world to Nysa. I knew that even before I became pregnant. It is very uncanny but the fact is that often I feel that I used to tell my mother exactly the same things which Nysa now tells me. I rely on my mum a lot even now. I remember her now more when I am a mother. You feel like you are channeling your mother. I hope that I am a better person today than what I used to be earlier. I confess that I have mellowed a lot today and what’s more become more mature, especially in the last ten years.

After a long time, it looks like you have ‘enjoyed’ giving an interview. Why do you detest giving interviews?

You are right. I find giving interviews very ‘boring’ because I hate the idea of answering the same question put to me again and again. I also do not have any controversy attached to me to discuss with the media. I do not know how people manage to get into controversies at the drop of a hat. I like to read but only happy stuff and not gossip.