Kajol, who is set for the release of her bilingual film VIP 2, completes 25 years in the film industry this year. The actress, known for being too selective regarding her film choices, has proved her acting prowess in all her films. In an interview with CNN-News18, Kajol talks about her journey as an 'ambitionless' person, her fallout with Karan Johar, the perils of being a newcomer today and the unnecessary scrutiny star kids have to face.
Here's some excerpt from the interview:
On staying put in the industry for 25 years:
"I didn't expect it. It started off as something to while away time on vacations. And then I had such a great time and I was like, this (acting) doesn't feel like work so let me just do a few more till it does. Touchwood, till today it doesn't feel like work."
On being called 'ambition-less' in comparison to her counterparts:
"I think it's very accurate to say. I probably look like one of those lazy people who just take everything for granted, but honestly, I really love my work and enjoy it. I don't believe in making it 'work-work' and that is the reason I am still here enjoying it."
On not pushing herself enough as an actor:
"It's a combination of being lazy and being choosy at the same time. No, I haven't push myself enough. My ambitions were to keep myself balanced between my personal and public life and I think I did it quite nicely. I wouldn't want to work more than this. I don't think I would've brought so much energy into it if I had done 100 films in my 25 years of career. My interest in the job should not be questioned."
On rejecting VIP 2 because of the language barrier:
"When they came to narrate me the film, I was very clear about it that I won't do it. Then they narrated it to me and I said 'It's in Tamil!' So they were like 50% of your dialogues are in English, 50% won't matter even if you speak Chinese, please do the film."
"The way they reassured me and have been with me throughout the process to make it all seamless. Working in VIP 2 was easier than my experience with Rajiv Menon in Minsara Kanavu because of my growth as an actor."
On being a rebel who broke the stereotypical image of a 'heroine':
"Again it was laziness. Looks never mattered enough to me. I honestly feel till today that you can never lie to a camera and it has an innate quality of catching all façade underneath. So I concentrated very hard on being true to myself. What I did in front of the camera mattered more to me than what I wore. Looks are more important today than they were at that point in time."
"Now I've begun to make some effort in that direction. I was 16 when I came into the industry with people telling me what to wear, when to wear and how to wear. When I got the time to think about it I figured out that it wasn't rocket science. Random people, who I know don't have my level of IQ, are doing it. So I sat myself down, I researched it and I just had to figure out how I would like to see myself. I realised I didn't have an opinion on it which is very unlike me. I am a very opinionated person."
On the pressure newcomers face today:
"There is no place for rebellion today. I don't think you have a place for laziness. People gave me time to become who I am, to train myself, to grow and to become a certain persona. But nowadays, in your first film itself, you have to be exactly who you expect yourself to be in another 5 years. Nobody gives you a second chance anymore."
On her 'successful pairing with SRK'
"We are very comfortable with each other. There's an innate comfort level, we've also done successful films together. There's an onscreen history together that you see the couple as and off screen, that comes very instinctively, I can predict his actions. All of this and that we are very fine actors."
On devoting her time to children, putting career on backseat:
"I wanted to keep the balance and I knew that marriage wasn't going to be exactly an easy pill to swallow. So I just thought that I should give myself time to become used to that fact. I have no regrets that I took that time off. In fact, I think everybody should take that time after getting married to understand exactly who they are because the experience is different."
On learning things after becoming a mother:
"I am a people's person to the people that I know. Patience was one of those huge things that my daughter taught me. A child's world is so different from yours. So many experiences color your viewpoint and make you see the world through multicolored glasses. My children made me reevaluate myself a lot."
On unnecessary scrutiny of star-kids:
"I honestly think it's very unnecessary. Up to a certain extent, it's unavoidable, they are our children, people are bound to want to know about them and love them. I just think that there needs to be a line drawn somewhere to say so far and no further. That line is being crossed over as people are trolling them, stalking them and even body shaming them."
On media's interest in her fall out with Karan Johar:
"We are celebrities, they want to know what we're wearing for the gym for heaven's sake! I don't understand that but then this (the fallout) is something they'd be interested in. It's human nature."
On her infrequent screen appearances:
"I don't think so and I don't want to. The kind of scripts I want to do is not necessarily the kind of scripts that I hear. I am picky, choosy and hard to please. I am in a place where I can afford to take that liberty to not do a film in two years."
"Hopefully, it wouldn't be that long this time and I'll be back sometime next year."
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