Kajol talks about playing a mother on-screen

Bollywood’s top actor Kajol says she was not keen to do We Are Family because it had a debutant director.

MUMBAI: One of Bollywood’s top actors, Kajol says she was not keen to do We Are Family because it had a debutant director. She also believes being a mother in real life made a difference to her body language in the film where she is shown to have three children.

“I think you always have doubts while working with first-time directors and it’s very sensible to do that,” Kajol, 35, said.

“I don’t think you should have complete confidence in first-time directors, you have to depend on yourself as well,” said Kajol who had worked with Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

She is quite positive about the film, a Hindi adaptation of the Hollywood  film Stepmom. Releasing on September 3, the film also stars Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor.

“Since we are doing it in a different language, we had to change the script and make it more Indian. I think it’s a different film from what Stepmom originally is. The premise of the film remains the same, but there is so much else there that I hope you leave with the feeling that it’s a different film altogether,” she said.

Though it was her best pal, director-producer Karan Johar’s production, Kajol really didn’t want to do a film soon after My Name is Khan, which released this February.

“I was not interested in doing a film at that point of time. I was really tired after My Name is Khan. When they insisted, I heard the script and I really liked it. I had seen Stepmom a very long time ago. I didn’t watch it before doing the film because I didn’t want it to influence me,” said Kajol.

Kajol has a daughter and is expecting her second child. She feels being a mother in real life makes a huge difference to her body language as an actor.

“When you become a mother and you are raising your daughter, there is something about a mother’s voice that you get. God gives it to you. Most children respond to it and I think it comes instinctively.”

“I think even in the film where your body language is concerned, I feel it makes a difference. I won’t say you take it from normal life, it’s just an instinctive part of taking care of a child,” she said.

She played a mother in Fanaa, as well as in My Name is Khan.

“Handling three children was more difficult. That kid was very good and he was much older. Here was a complete range of children (from ages five to 12). But they were very sweet and enthusiastic,” said Kajol.

Asked if her work distracted her from enjoying her pregnancy, she said, “I don’t think that anything can distract you from being pregnant. You know that you are pregnant and nothing can take that fact away from you and nothing can distract you from it.

“But, yes, it’s nice  to work. It’s good to know that I can still work. I was very, very nervous the first time around, but this time I am very comfortable and I know what to expect. So it’s much easier to handle it,” said Kajol.

She rules out any possibility of ever becoming a director. “Not really, I am a reader. I like to read more than anything. My definition of a producer and director is they are the ones who get paid to have a stomach ulcer.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2010.