Actors Kajol and Kriti Sanon appeared together on Expresso to promote their upcoming Netflix thriller Do Patti. During the conversation, Kajol reflected on two of her most popular past movies, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and the somewhat controversial decisions that her characters made. In both romantic dramas, Kajol starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan. Kajol agreed that her character made a 'toxic choice' when confronted with the option of choosing a green flag, played by Salman Khan, or a red flag character, essayed by Shah Rukh Khan, in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. She joked, "It was correct script-wise." Kajol was also asked about some of the choices that her character Simran made in DDLJ, and she said, "I didn't agree with Simran in a lot of places." When Kriti pointed out that SRK's Raj also fasted on Karwa Chauth for her, Kajol answered, "Haan toh? I don't understand why people have to starve themselves. Bhookha kisko rehna hai (Who wants to stay hungry)?" Also read - Karan Johar slams his own film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, admits he got the gender politics wrong: ‘Rahul said all kinds of wrong things’ Kajol said that she wishes she 'had known the effect' that DDLJ was 'going to have on society', when it was pointed out that the performance is now associated with Karwa Chauth, a festival which was popularised in the Aditya Chopra film and her subsequent Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Asked if she feels guilty sometimes about putting pressure of women to look pretty while starving, she said, "Not at all! I don't feel guilty for all these things. I don't feel guilty for eating also. Never feel guilty for eating. I don't feel guilty, I eat. That's why I look like I'm from a khata-peeta khaandan. Films reflect society, and society is a reflection of films. Yes, we can influence them up to a point, but I don't think it's all about the film either. Films do influence society, no two ways about it, but saying that I should feel guilty because people are keeping Karwa Chauth fast is a bit much. "Women feel pressure because they put pressure on themselves. Have you seen Barbie? I love the rant that she does. I feel all these pressures we women take upon ourselves. Most of our pressures are what we term as the 'good girl effect'. We want to be good women, and that's what we've been taught since the time we were probably in our mothers' wombs. Feminism has nothing to do with a man; it has to do with a woman, and how she sees herself. If I see myself as beautiful, strong, and balanced, then I am beautiful, strong and balanced. Nobody in this world can convince me otherwise," she said. Director Karan Johar has often apologised for what he has described as 'flawed' gender politics in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. He said at an IIMUN event, “I feel like I have grown as an individual, The first film that I made, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I firmly believe that the gender politics of that film was all wrong. It is propagating incorrect gender politics, there is a lot of surfacesness in that film. Of course, there is nostalgia so you love it, but you don’t scratch the surface of the film and see that what Rahul is doing is actually not what I would want all the Rahuls in the audience, or all the boys in general, to do.” Kajol and Kriti will be seen in Do Patti, which is set for a Netflix release on Friday.
