"Till date I have never watched horror films. Yet I dared to act in mytho-horror movie 'MAA' because...." versatile actress Kajol reveals the raaz? by Chaitanya Padukone

By Chaitanya Padukone 27 Jun 2025 in Entertainment

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Till date I have never watched horror films. Yet I dared to act in mytho-horror movie 'MAA' because.... versatile actress Kajol reveals the raaz by Chaitanya Padukone

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Incredible as it may sound that Kajol told me that "till date, she has never ever watched horror movies", Which includes 1965 movie 'Bhoot Bungla' ( starring her legendary actress mother Tanuja-jee) and 'Bhoot' (2003) starring hubby Ajay Devgn and her mother Tanuja-jee )" Explains Kajol, My sister Tanishaa loves watching horror movies m but somehow I am not excited at all about watching horror movies. But when 'MAA:" had its premiere show, I will had to watch it to evaluate my own screen-performance and get the reactions of the invited audience. The much-awaited emotional thriller movie MAA ( from the 'Shaitaan' movie universe) with the theme of 'evil versus divine faith is directed by Vishal Furia and produced by Ajay Devgn ( Devgn Films) and Jyoti Deshpande (Jio Studios).

Maa (2025) - IMDb

For the first time, versatile Kajol ventures into the horror and action genre, challenging herself once again as an actor. In this exclusive conversation, Kajol opens up about her experience in ‘Maa’, her 34-year-long journey in cinema, the evolving nature of storytelling, social media’s impact, star kids and trolling, and life lessons from her mother, veteran actress Tanuja.

"Till date I have never watched horror films. Yet I have ventured to act in mytho-horror movie 'MAA'-that's because it also has intense emotions and divine-mytho powers which excited me," explains versatile actress Kajol!

Kajol's career in Bollywood is often described as "unstoppable," spanning over three decades with a mix of commercial success and critical acclaim. Her debut was in 1992 with Bekhudi, and she has since delivered numerous musical movie hits and memorable performances with many firsts in her career, solidifying her position as a leading actress. While she took a break after Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) to focus on marriage and motherhood, she has continued to work in films and digital projects like Tribhanga, The Trial, and Do Patti, where she even played a sensitive crime detection police officer .
And now the light-eyed actress, for the first time, will feature in a horror film Maa, a genre outside her comfort zone as the actress is not a big fan of horror films. A blend of horror and mythology, Maa explores the “timeless battle between good and evil” with spine-chilling suspense and intense drama. The film MAA has been directed by talented Vishal Furia, known for Lapachhapi, (Marathi), Criminal Justice and Chhorrii and Chhorri-2 and is slated to be released in cinemas on Friday June 27.

Maa' Trailer Launch | Kajol | Ajay Devgn | R Madhavan - YouTube

An avid enthusiast books-reader of mythological tales and stories, ( including Greek Vikings) since childhood Kajol was excited when she was offered the film that explores the story of Maa Kali and Raktabeej, a tale she's long been fond of. Maa felt like a story she was meant to be a part of. “I’m a big mythology buff and this is one of my most favourite stories. I have read many different versions and I have narrated this story to my children several times. But when the story was being written we didn’t have horror in mind, we never thought we would be making a horror film. But when the script came to the climax, we felt it can’t remain a thriller because our characters and situations had become so big that we needed the horror tag to give justification to the characters. We realized that we have to take audience satisfaction and even climax justification into account. We just can’t fire one bullet and leave, we had to put the horror tag onto it and create this world,” Kajol explains.

In a jovial candid mood, Kajol also shares that "she would love to play multi-layered mytho-characters like Krishna (from 'Mahabharat' ) and learned intelligent 'Ravana from 'Ramayana', since she is totally in awe of them".

“But I was not aware that horror films have a certain pitch which is not there in regular films. When you are doing this genre, you have to act depending upon that pitch. Vishal had to give me a lot of explanation regarding that …he would say, ‘I know what is happening behind you or in front of you, you can’t see ..it is going to come in later in the cuts and in the background music ..so you will have to do it this way only’. I would like to give credit to my director for having the sense and sensibility of making a horror film, of course, he is a very successful horror film director,” says spontaneous 'DDLJ' star-actress Kajol ( who is a real-life caring mother ) who as lead character 'Ambika' has also performed physically demanding action-scenes as well in 'MAA'. Which effectively conveys the social message that like a divine Goddess, every real-life Mother can go to any lengths to protect her child from evil forces