There’s a sense of deja-vu in seeing Kajol grin, as she lets you into a sun-lit suite of a suburban five-star, inviting you to 'make yourself comfortable'. Any minute now, you expect her to spring a, “Would you like some tea and something to go with it?” in the British accent of 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’s' expat heroine, or remind you to chug, 'Juice, juice' as the college-going tomboy from 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'. It’s not difficult to see that there’s been a bit of Kajol in every character she has played—from the rebellious Simran of 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' to an overprotective mother in ‘Helicopter Eela’.
Settling in for a chat, Kajol underlines that her upcoming film, actor husband Ajay Devgn’s ' Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior', which is the story of an underdog, features characters with clear personality traits. “Saif (Ali Khan, co-star) is all-black (negative); you won’t see him saving a sparrow in the end to convey that he has some good within him. Tanaji and Savitri are all-white. No one is grey,” she laughs, and is refreshingly upfront about her role, in that it 'isn’t very big'.
The actor is quick to add that her role is relevant to the story. “Savitribai is a loyalist and there’s a wonderful strength to her character. In today’s time, our definition of a strong woman is strange. You have to be a working woman as well as an efficient homemaker and if you are only one of the two, there’s a certain way you are looked at, even by other women. There’s immense strength in being who you are and realising your relevance,” Kajol asserts. Is that why she does only a handful of films now? “It isn’t every day that the right director, producer and script come together. So, I’d rather sit at home and spend time with my children.
Point out that Ajay had recently revealed that the film’s team is planning a franchise on other unsung warriors from India and Kajol says, “We want to mine more stories of those who fought like maniacs for their motherland,” but would personally rather stay in the fiction zone. “I am a fiction reader; nothing real lives up to that.”
There was buzz that she is set to launch her own production house but Kajol shoots it down. “I am not producer material at all; it requires a strong stomach lining to deal with all the ulcers that come with the job,” she laughs, adding that she always has her husband’s company to produce films with.
With' Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior'', the husband-wife duo reunites on screen 12 years after their last outing, 'U, Me Aur Hum', but the actor insists that nothing has changed between then and now. “Even when Ajay is acting with me in a scene, he watches me like a director. If he is not happy with a shot, he will give me inputs and ask me to go for a second take. I appreciate his keen eye,” she gushes. —TOI
