Tanuja at 81: Tanishaa Mukerji, Kajol recall the veteran star’s parenting style, call her ‘typical Indian mother’

 

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She added, how like any other Indian mother, Tanuja too insisted on her daughter being disciplined and well-behaved. “I have a very normal film family. My mother is a very normal person. She is a typical Indian mother. She knows how to bring up her children, instill the right values. She disciplined us, as well as, spoiled us. But, discipline was very important for her. Good manners, good behaviour, how to speak to people, how to behave with people, these things are very important. If that’s normal, then we are a normal family. My mom insisted on that. She was very strong with how we behave. We must be well-behaved.”

Recalling fond memories from her childhood, Tanishaa shared, “I used to see my mother get ready and go for work. I used to feel so excited. I always told her, ‘Mom, when I will grow up, I want to do my hair like this and makeup like that.” She revealed, it was her mother’s influence that sparked her desire to become an actress. “I used to accompany my mother on set, but I didn’t enjoy it because she used to cry in several scenes and all, and I used to get very upset.”

 

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ALSO READ | Tanuja: The ‘bubbly’ girl who became actor to support her family; was slapped by director for refusing to cry

Similarly, on the show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, Kajol jokingly recalled, “I was the most abused child.” She added, “I was beaten up regularly everyday. The great thing about mom is that she always let us be. We were always allowed to be whatever we wanted to be. There was never holding us back or trying to mold us and form us into some pre-conceived notion of what we should be as individuals. We were allowed to grow. Our imaginations were never curved. We were never told that this is not what children do. It was always like ‘If it makes you happy, go ahead and do it’. I think that was the biggest freedom.”

Tanuja, the daughter of filmmaker Kumarsen Samarth and actress Shobhna Samarth, always wanted to get into diplomatic service as she was interested in languages, however, financial crisis in the family pushed her to become an actress. Tanuja delivered many successful films Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), starring Rajesh Khanna, Jewel Thief (1967), starring Dev Anand, and Mem Didi (1961), among others. The actress turns 81 today.