How would you describe your 2021 in one word?
For me personally, motherhood.
One movie/show you are looking forward to in 2022?
Anubhav Sinha’Crowd,
You celebrated the new year with your husband and son for the first time. how was it?
As it should be! Family time is precious. It was wonderful to bring in the new year with our daughter and baby.
you are cooperating Anubhav Sinha Once again after the ‘mob’Slap, How was your experience working with them?
I care and respect Anubhav’s cinema a lot. Directed by him in a music video 20 years ago, after working with him in his last few films ‘Thappad’ and now to our collaboration on ‘Bhoad’, it has been a long and interesting journey. ‘Bhod’ is an important film, and it is very difficult to make. But the experience is what makes the experience so enjoyable, spontaneous and personal. I love the whole team working with him. It was great to be back on the sets of the film with him!
Two decades into the film industry and being a celebrity, are you now used to the public eye and the fact that you should be open to varying degrees of visibility and scrutiny?
We must admit that along with the love and generosity of our audiences comes varying levels of scrutiny. Over the years I have also found that people will treat us the way we treat us in the public domain.
Your New Year’s post pointed out some of the experiences that left us really curious. We all know about your marriage and motherhood, but what happened to the near-death experience?
I had to go for an appendectomy in my fifth month pregnancy, I was later in and out of the hospital because of an acute bacterial infection that could have led to sepsis in the sixth month of pregnancy. I had to give birth because my placenta started bleeding. It was a difficult time and I am grateful to my gynecologist who saved our lives.
How different is being a mother during a pandemic?
Bringing a child into a world of crisis has a profound effect on all of our choices. I hope that someday soon we will not have to wear masks and our children can return to normalcy in their lives. Our daughter is studying online and it is a struggle. Our son is too young to know the difference. But when we stay at home, we cherish the time we spend with us and do everything possible to make this time attractive, happy and safe for our children.
You have always been vocal about your views and opinions, do you think being transparent and not being diplomatic has affected your career?
Sure it is! It now attracts only those people whom I really respect into my life and I get a chance to work with them. This is the best way to proceed.
Many people have lost a lot during this pandemic. Some have lost family and friends, while others have lost careers, time and money. What kind of lessons have you learned in these turbulent times and that you will look back, say, five years later?
The entire humanity has been shaken for the last two years. Inequalities have widened, the cracks in our societies have deepened. But at the same time, there are many good people working towards helping those in need. The lesson COVID-19 has taught me is that nothing is more important than restoring natural balance and improving my relationship with the natural world. And nothing is more important than health. The most important lesson is that all human health is linked to the health of the planet.
I hope we can look back five years from now to the time when the world chose a time to heal. At a time when sustainability became a priority and a major shift in all of our choices paves the way for recovery for people and the planet.
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