Kajol: ‘When people love you that much, they also feel that they have the right to hate you that much’

Vandita Mishra: Kajol, you have that vantage point of watching how movies have changed. Do you think that now super stardom is dying?

Kajol: I think it’s dead. It’s not because there aren’t stars or other talented people. But I think the advent of social media has been huge. It (stardom) was the forbidden fruit that you couldn’t see anywhere else. Agar dekhna hai to bade parde par hi dekhna padega (if you had to see a star, you would have to see them on the big screen). But suddenly, if it’s available to you on your phone, at the press of a button and there’s so much of it, it’s not that special anymore.

Vandita Mishra: Kajol, your career graph has been long, but it’s not been continuous. You’ve sort of taken breaks.

Kajol: I am the laziest person!

Also Read | Kajol answers why she picked ‘red flag’ Shah Rukh Khan over ‘green flag’ Salman Khan in KKHH, admits she disagreed with Simran in DDLJ

Vandita Mishra: But apart from laziness, do you take a sabbatical to recharge yourself?

Kajol: For me, it was always about work. My mom (Tanuja) and my grandmom (Shobhana Samarth) had this theory that work should be a part of your life, not your whole life. So yes, I did take breaks. But I’m still here, still working, still relevant.

Shubhra Gupta: Kriti, how difficult was it for you to break into Bollywood? You stepped in with Telugu films and the next thing you were in Heropanti. Today, is there a possibility of doing a movie called ‘Heroinepanti’?

Kriti Sanon: Heropanti had enough Heroinepanti for me… I got to be the quintessential Bollywood heroine… Tiger had more pressure because people knew him. But I had to give it time and hope that people take me back home as well. I remember at the airport, somebody saying, ‘Aree, yeh Tiger Shroff ki film mein aayi thi’. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s (Bareilly Ki Barfi director) kids at that point used to call me ‘Tiger didi’. I had to work doubly hard to get people to recognise me.

Vandita Mishra: Kajol, your mother, aunt and grandmother made such amazing, out-of-the-box choices. Is that a pressure on you today?

Kajol: I don’t think it’s a pressure, it is something to live up to. My grandmother was not only a producer, but a director and an actor, at a time when actresses were not considered to be from the best families.

Shubhra Gupta: I wanted to ask you about paps and being papped.

Kajol: I don’t like it, but I’ve made peace with it.

Shubhra Gupta: Okay, but Kriti where do you draw the line?

Kriti Sanon: I understand that it’s their job. Sometimes they go a little wild. But then you just find your shade somewhere. Honestly, they’re all very sweet.

Kajol: I hate this answer… They are sweet?! Terrible answer!

Also Read | Kajol says ‘stardom is dead’ with the advent of social media: ‘It’s not that special anymore’

Shubhra Gupta: How do you deal with trolling on social media?

Kajol: They’re bots! It’s not real. You’ll see my post tomorrow, how I’m on the red carpet, but that’s only one aspect of my life. You’re not going to see that I woke up at 5 am, took a flight, did a whole round of interviews, came home exhausted at 11 pm and next day, I’m back to work. So what is real is that we work hard and have good days and bad days. And yes, it’s horrible to hear (trolls), you don’t want that negativity. But then, I also feel that when people love you that much, they also feel that they have the right to hate you that much.

Vandita Mishra: Kajol, you recently tweeted: “29 years to the OG of Karva Chauth…”, referring to DDLJ. Karva Chauth has become a public event due to marketing, a certain politics and films like DDLJ, K3G… Does it worry you that you helped add to pressures on women — wives must remain hungry while looking beautiful?

Kajol: Society is a reflection of films. Yes, we can influence them up to a point but I don’t think that it’s all about the film either. It’s like saying, you were watching such a violent film that it caused you to go and bang your car. I mean, there is a responsibility. But saying that I should feel guilty because people are keeping Karva Chauth is a bit much.

 

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Vandita Mishra: The Justice Hema Committee report has roiled the Malayalam film industry, but there is this conspicuous silence of the Hindi film industry. Do you think all of you need to speak up?

Kajol: I think we already had our questioning done during #MeToo. We have put a lot of stuff in place, so women can work in a safer environment. It is now necessary for all production houses to have a committee in Bollywood.

Vandita Mishra: Would you do a film like Animal?

Kajol: I have reservations about things that I will and won’t do on screen. Yes, as an actor, you would love to do roles that may not be inside you, and you do it because it is a great role, but this, no. I would hesitate and not say yes to it.

Also Read | Do Patti movie review: Shallow Kajol-Kriti Sanon film fails to deliver on its promise

Vandita Mishra: Kriti, you are also a producer. Obviously, there is greater power over the scripts and actors that you choose and the treatment meted out to men and women on set and in terms of fees. What are your dos and don’ts?

Kriti Sanon: At times, I have seen the female actor called on the set before you call the male actor, for no reason. It’s a very small thing but the respect for a male actor’s time and a female actor’s time should be on par. When you produce a film, it also gives you that power of being creatively involved in other aspects of filmmaking. That is a very fulfilling process.

Shubhra Gupta: So as a producer, if you hadn’t done a Do Patti, would you have got this kind of role?

Kriti Sanon: I wanted to tell stories that I feel should be told. Yes, it also gives you the liberty of creating roles that are not on your table. After Mimi, I was craving for a deeper, intense role. I told Kanika (Dhillon) that I want to produce a film. She’s a great writer, who scripts layered roles. You have to create opportunities when you don’t find them.

Vandita Mishra: With Adar Poonawalla taking over 50 per cent of Dharma Productions, do you think there is a shift that’s happening to big studios?

Kajol: I don’t know whether it’s a shift so much as it’s probably another player coming into the field. Not into the field, I would say, because Dharma Productions has been there forever. But I don’t think it will change the balance too much, as of now, no.

Shubhra Gupta : Kajol, what’s your message to a Simran and a Raj of today?

Kajol: Raj and Simran would not exist today. They would have DMed or WhatsApped each other, and made sure that they have at least four other options on a dating site. So, ya, I don’t think Raj and Simran as a love story could exist in today’s day and age.

 

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FROM THE AUDIENCE

How can Bollywood bring Indianness outside India and spread Indian culture?
Moorti Patel, journalism student, HR College of Commerce & Economics

Kajol: I think that is something that most schools are doing right now. My daughter studied in Singapore and they have a lot of school fests. where they do a lot of Bollywood songs, etc. They have festival dresses, they celebrate Diwali. I feel, right now, it’s a wonderful time because our Indian culture is regarded as being cool. And I just want to tell you, at the top of the Swiss mountain, is a huge poster of DDLJ. So Indianness has reached the mountains of Switzerland as well.

Which are the roles that really impacted you, those that you found difficult to get out of your head?
Anil Somani, Founder & Executive Chairman, FOSTIIMA Business School

Kajol: I don’t think there are roles but there are scenes that I will always remember. The scene in My Name is Khan, where my son dies. That scene stays with me till today. It’s a warning in my head. Don’t try this again.

Kriti Sanon: Mimi has been special for me in many ways. Her dialect stayed with me days after the shooting was over. But in Bareilly Ki Barfi, there’s a scene with Bitti and her father, where she says ‘If I were a boy, there would not be any problem. Lekin ladki hona disaster hai.’ The way she expresses herself… things like that stay on, when your character syncs with you and questions things that you want to question.